Monkey-Smuggling Cambodian Official Caught At JFK Airport: Feds

QUEENS – A Cambodian official was arrested at JFK Airport Wednesday, while several others were charged, for illegally smuggling endangered monkeys into the U.S., the Department of Justice said.

Masphal Kry — an official of the Cambodian Forestry Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries — was arrested for his role in bringing wild long-tailed macaques to research facilities in Florida and Texas under false documents., prosecutors said.

“The macaque is already recognized as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature,” said Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “The practice of illegally taking them from their habitat to end up in a lab is something we need to stop. Greed should never come before responsible conservation. Cases like this put us in a position where we can make a difference.”

These types of monkeys require special permits in order to be imported into the U.S.

Along with Kry, whose bail hearing is on Thursday, seven other people were charged for smuggling and conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act, according to prosecutors.

Each defendant faces up to 5 years in prison on the charge of conspiracy and up to 20 years imprisonment on each of the smuggling charges if convicted, the DOJ said.

They could also face up to $250,000 in fines, prosecutors said.

Omaliss Keo, 58, the director general of Cambodia’s Forestry Administration, is charged in the eight-count indictment, while six employees of a company called Vanny Resources Holdings were also charged, according to the DOJ.

The indictment states that the company employees owned several corporations that worked with the black market collectors and Cambodian officials to obtain the monkeys and export them into breeding facilities in the U.S. with false documents.

Between December 2017 and September 2022, the macaques were taken from national parks and protected areas in the country to the breeding facilities, prosecutors said.