A criminal group was busted for trying to export hundreds of Australian lizards to Hong Kong, authorities have said.
New South Wales Police found a total of 257 lizards, worth A$1.2 million (£633,000) on the exotic animal market.
They arrested three men and a woman, between the ages of 31 and 59, for charges which include exporting regulated native specimens without a permit and dealing with property proceeds of crime.
The plot was unveiled by Strike Force Whyaratta - a task force set up last September, after nine packages containing 59 live lizards were intercepted on their way to Hong Kong.
After extensive investigation, the officers carried out search warrants and took the four suspects into custody.
Police allege the group was catching live lizards and other native Australian reptiles, including snakes, to export for profit to Hong Kong.
The animals were kept in poor conditions and bound in small containers when they were packaged to be sent.
Officers took all the creatures to zoos and wildlife parks, for a vet to check their health, before releasing them back into the wild.
Hong Kong has “grown to dominate international trade in a range of exotic animals”, according to the according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Between 2015 and 2021, the city imported at least 5.2 million exotic animals, drawn from over 760 species of reptiles, birds, mammals, amphibians and arthropods.
Professor Sung Yik Hei, from the Science Unit of Lingnan University, said: “Hong Kong is the last remaining stronghold for several species in trade, which could disappear within a matter of years.
“Despite our impact on wildlife, both at home and abroad, we are not acting fast enough or providing sufficient safeguards for endangered animals we are plundering from the wild.”
