A Chinese national was charged with shipping $700,000 worth of elephant ivory, rhinoceros horns and coral through a Concord-based shipping business in what federal officials are calling a wildlife smuggling ring.
Guan Zong Chen was arrested and extradited in 2015 while traveling from China to Australia and made his first appearance in court when he was arraigned in Boston federal court Monday, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office press release.
Authorities say Chen purchased wildlife artifacts from U.S. auction houses in California, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas to resell in Hong Kong.
He allegedly took on a Chinese college graduate as a co-conspirator, who was tasked with traveling to the U.S. to prepare the goods for export.
The graduate would either hand deliver or mail the wildlife goods to a shipping business in Concord, which would then have them repackaged and smuggled into Hong Kong, authorities said.
The wildlife goods were allegedly shipped in packages with documents that falsely stated their contents and value.
Authorities noted one example from 2014 in which Chen visited the United States to meet with the Concord shipper and instructed them to smuggle an ivory-made sculpture by falsely stating it was made out of wood and worth only $50.
Trading in rhinoceros horns, elephant ivory and coral has been regulated since 1976. Exporting certain wildlife goods that were not imported before 1975 and without proper documentation can result in a $650,000 fine and up to two years in prison.
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