Omaliss Keo, Primate Smuggling, Florida 2023

MIAMI — A brazen international primate smuggling ring has been busted, and eight individuals are facing multiple felony charges for their role in bringing wild long-tailed macaques into the United States.

The indictment charges Omaliss Keo, 58, of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Director General of the Cambodian Forestry Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Masphal Kry, 46, of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Deputy Director of the Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity for the Cambodian Forestry Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; James Man Sang Lau, 64, of Hong Kong, Founder/Owner Vanny Resources Holdings, Ltd., and Vanny Bio Research (Cambodia) Corporation Ltd.; Dickson Lau, 29, of Hong Kong, General Manager Vanny Resources Holdings Ltd.; Sunny Chan, a resident of Hong Kong, Deputy General Manager (Operations) at Vanny Group; Raphael Cheung Man, 71, of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Public Relations and Export Manager for Vanny Bio Research (Cambodia) Corporation Ltd.; Sarah Yeung, a Hong Kong resident and Finance Officer of Vanny Group; and Hing Ip Chung, 61, of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, General Manager of Vanny Bio Research (Cambodia) Corporation Ltd. with smuggling and conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act.

The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to acquire wild-caught macaques and launder them through the Cambodian entities for export to the U.S. and elsewhere, falsely labelled as captive bred. To make up for a shortage of suitable monkeys at the putative breeding facilities in Cambodia, the co-conspirators enlisted the assistance of the CITES authority in Cambodia and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) to deliver wild-caught macaques taken from national parks and protected areas in Cambodia.

The indictment lists 31 representative “overt acts” undertaken by one or more of the co-conspirators in their efforts to carry out their criminal enterprise. These include meetings, financial transactions, shipments of hundreds of primates, and the falsification of documents.

The defendants facing these felony charges are Omaliss Keo, Masphal Kry, James Man Sang Lau, Dickson Lau, Sunny Chan, Raphael Cheung Man, Sarah Yeung, and Hing Ip Chung. If convicted, each defendant faces up to 5 years in prison on the charge of conspiracy in count 1 and up to 20 years imprisonment on each of the smuggling charges in counts 2 through 8. There also are potential fines with respect to each count of up to $250,000 or twice the financial gain to the defendants.

On May 24, 2023, Masphal Kry was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, which resulted in the unsealing of the indictment. The unsealed indictment has been lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said that the investigation was ongoing, and the indictment marked a significant milestone in the case.

The long-tailed macaque has been regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1977. The provisions of CITES are implemented in the U.S. through the Endangered Species Act (ESA). CITES permits are individually numbered and include detailed information about the shipment, including a source code, which advises whether the animal was bred in captivity or taken from the wild.