by Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Noble Park North man accused of running a cross-border illegal wildlife trade syndicate has fronted court on 565 charges.
Zehong Zheng, 24, was placed on bail during a short hearing at Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 26 September.
He is accused by the state Conservation Regulator of using his private wildlife licence and knowledge of Victoria’s wildlife permit systems to illegally import and export native reptiles for trafficking.
The regulator claims that in January 2023, officers raided two properties in Noble Park North and Caroline Springs, where they discovered and seized dozens of native reptiles that were allegedly sourced illegally, including shingleback lizards, blue-tongued lizards, and varied species of geckos.
Officers also seized documents and electronic devices.
Zheng faces 306 charges related to the illegal import and export of wildlife, 198 breaches of his wildlife licence conditions and 24 charges of illegally buying and selling wildlife.
Other alleged offences are 23 charges of failing to maintain legible and timely entries in his record book and 14 charges of using false documents to facilitate illegal sales.
He was detected and charged as part of Operation Pike, an investigation by the Conservation Regulator with support from Victoria Police and the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
In a related matter, a 21-year-old Caroline Springs man was fined $30,000 at Sunshine Magistrates’ Court last month after he pleaded guilty to 19 charges, including unlawfully taking reptiles from the wild and possessing illegally sourced wildlife.
Native animals, including reptiles, are protected by law in Victoria, and it is illegal to import, export, and trade them without authorisation.
Offenders face penalties of up to $19,759 per charge.
It is also a serious offence to falsify documents, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment per charge.
“Our wildlife laws and permit systems exist to protect the welfare of native animals and the Conservation Regulator will not tolerate any exploitation of these processes for the illegal trade of wildlife,” said Adam Toma, the Acting Chief Conservation Regulator.
“If you know anything or have seen suspicious behaviour around wildlife, we encourage you to report it to Crime Stoppers Victoria.
“Even a small amount of information from the public can help fight native wildlife crime.”
Zheng was bailed to appear at Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on 9 December.
As part of his bail conditions, he was ordered to surrender his passport and not to leave Victoria.
