This Cumingi monitor lizard was smuggled from the Philippines. Wildlife trafficking is the 4th biggest illegal global business after narcotics, human trafficking and weapons.
Venomous king cobra snakes packed into potato chip cans. Asian songbirds bound and stuffed into a suitcase. And a Bengal tiger cub driven in a vehicle from Indiana to Ventura County. These are just some of the ways people have smuggled protected wildlife into Southern California.
Recently, US Fish and Wildlife Service officials announced that 16 people have been charged and about 200 animals seized in recent months as part of “Operation Jungle Book,” the largest wildlife trafficking sweep in Southern California history.
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