In a statement, the US Attorney for the southern district of New York said Teo Boon Ching, 57, was extradited from Thailand yesterday after he was arrested in June for his second wildlife trafficking offence.

US attorney Damian William said Teo was a leader of a transnational criminal enterprise which trafficked rhinoceros horns and enriched poachers who killed endangered animals.

Teo, who is said to have businesses in Malaysia and Thailand, had allegedly trafficked and smuggled rhinoceros horns.

“Teo served as a specialised smuggler, transporting rhinoceros horns from rhinoceros poaching operations primarily in Africa to the eventual customers primarily in Asia. Teo also claimed to be able to ship rhinoceros horns to the US,” the charge against him read.

He is also charged with smuggling about 73kg of horns with a value of nearly US$725,472 (RM3.3 million) in 2019. He had also told people that he was a middleman for poached rhinoceros horns in Africa and charged them a per kilo fee.

A confidential source in the US, who acted as a buyer, bought 12 horns from Teo and wired money from a New York bank to numerous Chinese bank accounts at an “underground” banking facility in Thailand, the statement read.

Teo faces a maximum of five years jail in prison for conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking and two counts of money laundering, which carries a maximum of 20 years in jail.

Yesterday, Reuters reported that the US had imposed sanctions against a Malaysian group, accusing it of engaging in “the cruel trafficking of endangered and threatened wildlife and the products of brutal poaching”.

The US treasury department said in a statement it had designated Teo, the Teo Boon Ching Wildlife Trafficking Transnational Criminal Organization, and Malaysian company Sunrise Greenland to face the sanctions.

The organisation specialises in the transportation of rhinoceros horn, ivory and pangolins from Africa.

It uses routes through Malaysia and Laos to reach customers in Vietnam and China, the statement said.