Alleged animal trafficker on way to the US
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Alleged animal trafficker on way to the US

Police escort Teo Boon Ching on Friday night.
Police escort Teo Boon Ching on Friday night.

A Malaysian man arrested in Bangkok in June for alleged wildlife trafficking has been extradited to the United States.

Teo Boon Ching, 57, was taken to Suvarnabhumi airport on Friday night and put on a flight to the US.

The suspect was arrested at a hotel on Pradit Manutham Road in Bangkok's Wang Thonglang district on June 29. He was wanted on a warrant issued by the Criminal Court for colluding in wildlife trafficking and money laundering, said Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau.

Mr Teo had been sought by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for his alleged involvement in a worldwide network of illicit trade in rhinoceros horn, elephant tusks and endangered wild African animals and for laundering money for wildlife traffickers.

In comments on its website, the US Treasury Department said Mr Teo, his alleged trafficking organisation and the Malaysian firm Sunrise Greenland Sdn Bhd engaged in the "cruel trafficking of endangered and threatened wildlife and the products of brutal poaching".

Mr Teo specialises in the transport of rhino horn, ivory and pangolins from Africa, using routes through Malaysia and Laos to consumers in Vietnam and China, it said.

He faces one count of conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking and two counts of money laundering in the United States. The money laundering charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and the trafficking conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years imprisonment, the statement said.

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