Man smuggled butterflies of ‘exceptional size’ into US and sold them online, feds say
After a man lost a license that allowed him to import and export wildlife, he secretly smuggled more than $200,000 worth of dead insects, including protected butterflies of “exceptional size,” federal prosecutors said.
The 75-year-old, of Long Island, New York, is accused of selling specimens of birdwing butterflies — known for their “angular wings and bird-like flight” — and insects to online customers in the U.S. and around the world, according to prosecutors and an indictment filed Oct. 10.
Some of the dead birdwing specimens he smuggled were Goliath birdwings, the indictment shows. The Goliath birdwing, native to New Guinea in the western Pacific, is “one of the largest species of butterflies in the world,” according to the Florida Museum. Male Goliath birdwings are recognizable by their wings colored green, gold and black while female butterflies have brown, cream and yellow wings.
Under U.S. law, you need a license to legally import and export wildlife commercially, including dead specimens, according to prosecutors, who said all wildlife shipments also must be declared to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The New York man obtained a license in 2016 that let him run a commercial business legally “importing, exporting, purchasing, and selling wildlife, including protected species of butterflies,” prosecutors said.
However, his license was suspended by the FWS in October 2022, according to prosecutors. It’s unclear why.
Later that month, the man emailed a co-conspirator on Oct. 27, saying “screw USFWS…they are a gang of Orangutans,” according to the indictment.
The man is accused of directing this co-conspirator to label shipments of wildlife he sent to the man as “wall decorations” or “origami paper craft,” the indictment says.
Other co-conspirators received similar instructions from the man in an effort to “conceal (his) scheme,” which lasted from October 2022 through September 2023, prosecutors said.
The indictment charges the man with a conspiracy to smuggle wildlife into the U.S., smuggling wildlife into and out of the U.S. and Lacey’s Act violations related to falsely labeling and trafficking wildlife, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced in an Oct. 10 news release.
Information regarding the man’s legal representation wasn’t listed in court records as of Oct. 11.
According to prosecutors, the Lacey Act helps prohibit illegal wildlife trafficking and “requires that wildlife shipments be accurately labeled.”
As part of the man’s indictment, prosecutors are seeking the “forfeiture of over 1,000 butterflies, moths and other insects alleged to have been illegally trafficked,” according to the release.
Birdwing butterflies protected by CITES
Birdwing butterflies are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, prosecutors noted in the release
When the New York man was smuggling birdwings, the species was specifically protected under CITES Appendix II, according to the indictment.
Species listed under the CITES Appendix II “are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled,” according to CITES.
The largest butterflies in the world are Queen Alexandra’s birdwings which are native to northern Papua New Guinea, the Natural History Museum in London reports. These butterflies have a wingspan that can reach more than 10 inches long.
If the New York man is convicted of smuggling, he could be sentenced to serve up to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
This story was originally published October 11, 2023 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Man smuggled butterflies of ‘exceptional size’ into US and sold them online, feds say."
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