“Wildlife trafficking is a serious threat,” said Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in the release. Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images‘Body blow’Prosecutors said a covert operation exposed Ching’s efforts to traffic about 219 kilograms [483 pounds] of rhino horns “resulting from the poaching of numerous rhinoceros” with an estimated value of $2.1 million. The horns were delivered in a suitcase in Thailand by those working for the wildlife trafficking organization, officials said. The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), which supplied intelligence on Ching to US enforcement agents, said his jailing was a “body blow” to the illegal wildlife trade. “Chinese and Vietnamese organized crime networks have long exploited Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries as transit hubs for smuggling illegal wildlife commodities from Africa into Asia,” an EIA statement read.

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Persons: Teo Boon Ching, Ching, ”, Damian Williams, Sam Yeh, Olivia Swaak, Goldman, “, ” “ Organizations: CNN, Southern, of, ” Rhinos, World Wildlife Fund, Rhinos, Getty, Prosecutors, Environmental Investigation Agency, US Treasury Department, Wildlife Justice Commission Locations: Malaysian, Manhattan, of New York, Thailand, United States, Africa, Asia, China, Vietnam, AFP, New York, London, Malaysia