A California couple was sentenced for illegally trafficking wildlife to and from the United States and Vietnam, including rhinoceros horns, lion teeth, and a tiger pelt.
Linh Luu and Kevin Le of Anaheim, California, pleaded guilty in federal court in Eugene, Oregon, to violating the Lacey Act, a federal law that prohibits wildlife trafficking. They were each sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
According to court documents, Luu and Le admitted to processing $51,100 in payments to assist a person in Vietnam illegally move wildlife items to and from Oregon.
Those items included American black bear gallbladders and cougar bones which were shipped to Vietnam as well as lion teeth, segments from black and white rhinoceros horns, and a tiger pelt which were imported to Oregon. The Department of Justice (DOJ) noted that black bears and cougars are native to Oregon and are prized for their use in traditional Asian medicine.
The scheme– which went on from September 2019 to May 2021– started to unravel in December 2020 when Luu and Le met an undercover federal agent. They accepted $12,000 in cash as a down payment for part of a rhino horn and discussed ways to avoid banking regulations that could detect illicit transactions.
The couple later each received nearly $5,000 in electronic payments for a horn segment that was shipped to Oregon disguised as a household decoration. Prosecutors said the sale was intended to build trust for larger transactions in the future.
The species involved are protected under international wildlife trade regulations. The couple did not obtain the required permits. .
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement investigated the case with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and Oregon State Police.
