L.A. Furniture Importer Admits to Endangered Fish Smuggling
Kam Wing Chan, the owner of a Los Angles furniture company, pleaded guilty to smuggling endangered abalone and Totoaba fish, said the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California in a July 21 news release (here).…
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Chan was alleged to have used the company, "which was ostensibly an importer of Asian furniture, to purchase endangered fish in Mexico, import them into the United States, and then export them to Asia," it said. The seafood was illegally exported to companies owned by one of Chan’s relatives in China, where they are considered delicacies "and often adorn the buffets of festival meals and are served at formal dinners," it said. Under the plea agreements, Chan and the company "will forfeit the smuggled wildlife and make restitution to the government of Mexico in the total amount of $55,000 for the loss of the natural resource, and pay fines totaling $14,500."