Difficulty: Summiteer (Level 3)
An Australia-based criminal group plotted to smuggle hundreds of native reptiles into Hong Kong as part of a trade in live animals, police alleged on January 8.
Detectives began investigating the network in September, after intercepting nine packages. They were bound for Hong Kong and had 59 live lizards hidden inside. They allegedly discovered more than 250 lizards after searching a number of properties scattered across Sydney. They also found a small number of snakes and their eggs.
Police said the captured reptiles were “kept in poor conditions” before they were “bound in small containers” to be sold in Hong Kong.
Photos taken by police showed lizards piled on top of each other in small plastic bins filled with dirty pellets.
Another photo showed a snake curling around a pile of eggs in a clear plastic tub packed with wood chips.
Each lizard could fetch about HK$26,280 on the black market, police said. The total seized haul had a street value of HK$6.3 million.
Three men and one woman have been charged for the plot.
Quiz Time
1. Who were the Australian police investigating?
2. Where did the police first discover the reptiles?
3. How many lizards were found in total?
4. In what conditions were the captured reptiles kept?
5. Why would people try to smuggle live animals elsewhere?
Suggested answers
1. An Australian-based criminal syndicate planning to smuggle hundreds of native reptiles into Hong Kong.
2. Properties scattered across Sydney.
3. Around 309 lizards were found in total.
4. In poor conditions and in small containers.
5. because they wanted to trade them and make money.
