China's largest wildlife trafficking case cracked ( 2003-11-25 16:58) (Xinhua)
Chinese police have cracked the country's largest wildlife trafficking case
and the Xi'an Municipal People's Procuratorate in northwestern Shaanxi province
will soon begin prosecution of the suspects, said a source with the Shaanxi
provincial forestry public security department Tuesday.
Jia Ruisheng, former general manager of a health care technology development
company in Beijing, allegedly purchased 2,130 macaques in a year from November
2001 to November 2002, according to the Shaanxi Provincial Forest Police
Station, which was commissioned with the case by the State Forestry
Administration.
Most of the macaques were provided by traffickers from Lixin county in east
China's Anhui province, including Su Hongbiao, Wang Yujian, Ma Huaishan and Jia
Wenfei.
The macaque, a kind of monkey with cheek pouches and usually a short tail, is
endangered in Asia and Africa and enjoys state-level protection in China in
accordance with the country's wildlife protection law.
The police first intercepted two macaques being smuggled by Tian Lichao, a
peasant farmer from Lixian county, in a train from southwest China's Sichuan
province to Anhui province on Nov. 28, 2002 and later tracked down the whole
ring behind him.
This was the largest wildlife trafficking ever uncovered in China and ensured
a better living environment for the rare monkeys, the police
said.
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