Gideon Luong: Guilty Narre Warren South man smuggled reptiles in Pringles cans
Convicted reptile smuggler Gideon Luong has appeared in court after being connected to a sophisticated operation that saw live native reptiles shipped to Hong Kong in the cruellest of manners.
Melbourne City
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A Narre Warren South man who tried to smuggle native reptiles in socks, cereal boxes and even doubled over and shoved into a Pringles can has told a court he needed the money to pay off debts.
Gideon Luong faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday, and pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful possession of wildlife and importing wildlife from NSW and slapped with a $5000 fine.
The court heard that between June and October 2018 police and DELWP officials went to several Australia Post outlet in the City of Casey and seized nine packages destined for Hong Kong.
Inside the packages were seven Shingleback lizards, four Eastern blue-tongued lizards and two Western blue-tongued lizards.
All were in a disturbing state, cruelly deprived of food and water, some doubled over in a Pringles can, or shoved into socks inside cereal boxes.
In some cases the lizards were placed in socks and wrapped in tape to prevent them from moving.
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) said he was part of a black market illegal reptile smuggling ring, busted in March 2019 following raids across Melbourne – with a total street value of $550,000.
The court heard the lizards Mr Luong handled along with his co-accused were estimated to be worth $75,000 on the black market.
Police arrested Mr Luong and his alleged accomplice Sai Kit Cheng after a 12-month investigation through Operation Sheffield in partnership with the Office of Conservation Regulator.
In a police interview Mr Luong said he met his co-accused Sai Kit Cheng when working at a sushi restaurant where he was told Mr Cheng could help him pay off his debts.
The matter will return to court at a later date as Mr Cheng indents to fight charges against him.
According to previous media reports, lizards are popular as pets in China and Japan and can fetch more than $10,000 each – and sometimes up to $100,000 – if sold on the black market to reptile collectors
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