Lion teeth, bear gallbladders and cougar bones: California couple sentenced in wild trafficking case
The couple was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $10,000 each for trafficking protected wildlife between Oregon and Vietnam.
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THE TAKEAWAY
- A California couple pleaded guilty to trafficking protected wildlife.
- The trafficked wildlife included rhino-horn segments, tiger pelts, lion teeth, cougar bones and American black bear gallbladders.
- Each defendant received three years of probation and a $10,000 fine.
EUGENE, Oregon – Talk about a wild marriage.
A California husband and wife are facing a hefty fine and years of probation after getting caught in a bizarre wildlife trafficking scheme involving tiger pelts, lion teeth, cougar bones and other animal parts smuggled between Asia and Oregon.
Photo of tiger pelt trafficked by defendants.
(U.S. Justice Department. )
In one instance, the couple slipped a rhino horn past customs enforcement by disguising it as a household item before shipping it to Oregon.
Linh Luu and Kevin Le, of Anaheim, California, pleaded guilty in federal court in Eugene, Oregon, on Oct. 23 to violating the Lacey Act, the nation’s oldest wildlife-trafficking law that prohibits buying or selling wildlife that was illegally imported or exported.
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Court documents show the couple processed approximately $51,100 in payments between September 2019 and May 2021 to help move wildlife items between the United States and Vietnam.
Lion teeth trafficked by the defendants to Oregon.
(U.S. Justice Department. )
The trafficked items included American black bear gallbladders and cougar bones shipped to Vietnam, as well as lion teeth, pieces of black and white rhinoceros horns and a tiger pelt imported into Oregon.
In December 2020, the couple met with an undercover federal agent in a parking lot and accepted $12,000 in cash as a down payment for part of a rhinoceros horn, prosecutors said.
The couple later shipped the rhino horn to Oregon, and evaded customs officials by disguising it as a decoration.
Photo of a part of a rhino horn (left) and the same rhino horn part disguised as a house good to thwart customs (right).
(U.S. Justice Department. )
The animals involved are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Commercial trade in those species is prohibited without the required permits, which the couple did not have.
The couple was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $10,000 each for trafficking protected wildlife between Oregon and Vietnam, according to the Justice Department.
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The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Homeland Security Investigations and Oregon State Police.