California couple sentenced for smuggling rhino horn, tiger pelt between Oregon and Vietnam
LOS ANGELES - A husband and wife from Anaheim received three years of probation and $20,000 in combined fines after pleading guilty to their roles in an international wildlife trafficking ring.
The illicit operation funneled tens of thousands of dollars to smuggle protected animal parts between Oregon and Vietnam, bypassing international conservation treaties and federal law.
What we know:
Linh Luu and Kevin Le entered guilty pleas in Eugene, Oregon, for violating the Lacey Act, the nation’s foundational statute banning the trade of illegally obtained wildlife, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Federal prosecutors revealed that between September 2019 and May 2021, the couple processed $51,100 in financial transactions to help an overseas contact illegally transport wildlife parts.
The outward pipeline from Oregon to Vietnam included American black bear gallbladders and cougar bones, both coveted for traditional Asian medicine.
Inbound shipments to Oregon contained prohibited remains of endangered and protected species, including lion teeth, a tiger pelt, and segments from both black and white rhinoceros horns, officials said.
The scheme unraveled in part through an undercover sting operation conducted by federal law enforcement.
In December 2020, Luu and Le met an undercover agent in a parking lot to accept a $12,000 cash down payment for a rhinoceros horn fragment, openly strategizing ways to evade domestic banking scrutiny, according to authorities.
Luu and Le subsequently collected electronic transfers of nearly $5,000 each for the transaction, ultimately delivering the horn piece to Oregon disguised as a conventional household decoration.
Every species involved is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which strictly bars commercial trade without permits that the defendants never obtained.
What we don't know:
The court record does not reveal the identity or current legal status of the individual based in Vietnam who coordinated the shipments with Luu and Le.
It's also unclear whether investigators have identified the domestic poachers or suppliers responsible for harvesting native Oregon black bears and cougars, or where the defendants originally sourced the foreign big-cat and rhinoceros specimens overseas.
The Source: This report is based on information provided by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs.