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A ring of smugglers has been busted by prosecutors for illegally bringing a massive number of endangered wild animals into the country, including cobras and Chinese alligators. To evade customs inspections, they bound the animals' mouths and feet or even hid them inside their underwear.
Here is a report from Yoo Soo-Hwan.
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Plastic baskets are stacked tightly on the shelves of a cramped gosiwon (studio apartment).
When the baskets are opened, lizards and various reptiles emerge, along with several endangered pythons found tucked away in various spots.
In another villa located near an elementary school, large reticulated pythons as well as Chinese alligators, which are classified as Class 1 internationally endangered species, were discovered.
A venomous cobra was also found in a nearby apartment.
Prosecutors arrested a ring of smugglers who secretly brought in and sold 200 wild animals across 14 attempts from November 2023 to August of the following year from countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
They brought the animals in by tightly packing alligators with their mouths and feet bound, placing young turtles in metal snack tins, and hiding some inside their underwear.
Prosecutors believe that a significant number of the endangered animals died during this process.
The suspects sold the animals on online reptile cafes using slang terms like "dolls" and "figures," with prices ranging from hundreds of thousands of won to tens of millions of won per animal.
In August of the year before last, a saltwater crocodile carcass was discovered in Sacheon, causing public controversy, and this smuggling ring was behind the incident.
[Kim Dong-won / Prosecutor, Criminal Division 2, Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office : Recently, there have been incidents of wild creatures appearing, such as an alligator found in the Soyang River in Yeoju or a snake invading a home in Yangju. We have confirmed that a smuggling ring is behind these occurrences....]
The 95 wild animals seized by prosecutors are all currently being protected at the National Institute of Ecology in Seocheon, South Chungcheong Province.
As you can see, 40 endangered species, including the Chinese alligator, are included among them.
Prosecutors have placed the 20-something mastermind under arrest and indicted four accomplices.
(Photo: Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office) (Video reporting: Joo Beom | Video editing: Jung Seong-hoon | Footage provided by Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office)
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