Cambodia wildlife official jailed in NY for monkey smuggling

By DAVID FISCHER and JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged eight people with smuggling endangered monkeys , including a Cambodian wildlife official who was arrested in the U.S. while traveling to a conference on protecting endangered species. Long-tailed macaques, sometimes known as crab-eating macaques, are protected under international trade law and special permits are required to import the animals into the U.S. Prosecutors say two Cambodian officials and six people connected to the Hong Kong-based Vanny Group, which breeds monkeys for scientific and academic research, arranged to supply captive-bred macaques to labs in Florida and Texas. They then conspired to illegally purchase wild macaques to make up for the lack of supply from their breeding operations.