A man who was caught smuggling water monitor lizards from the Philippines to the United States and selling them for profit has pleaded guilty to one count of wildlife trafficking at a Boston court on Tuesday (U.S. time).
Derrick Semedo, a resident of Nashua, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty to importing 20 water monitor lizards from the Philippines from March to December 2016, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. The poor reptiles were hidden inside socks which were sealed with tape and stuffed inside electronic equipment.
The electronic equipment would be sent to Semedo in the US via commercial carriers, reported the Associated Press. Semedo admitted that once he receives the animals, he would sell them to customers in Colorado, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.
Semedo was aware that the whole operation was not legit and that they were in violation of both the laws of the Philippines and the U.S.
Semedo’s case is part of Operation Sounds of Silence, an ongoing illegal trafficking investigation conducted by the U.S. government, reported the Boston Globe. His sentencing is scheduled on Aug. 13 and he could possibly be imprisoned for up to five years.
Monitor lizards are known by the scientific name of Varanus salvator and are native in South and Southeast Asia. They have elongated necks and long tails. In 2012, a 22-year-old man was sentenced to a six-week prison sentence when he smuggled 19 Mindanao water monitor lizards and other animals from the Philippines to Hong Kong, reported AFP. The animals were sent back to the Philippines by Hong Kong authorities.
