Medicine practitioner pleads guilty to illegal trade of endangered species
Date of alert:
Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Crime Ref:
Force:
Northamptonshire Police
A Chinese medicine practitioner who admitted to being involved in the illegal trade of endangered wildlife has been sentenced at Northampton Crown Court.
Lei Zheng, of Holkham Walk in Corby, was charged with seven counts of selling or keeping endangered species for sale including Pangolin, Musk, Seahorses and four species of plants.
On Thursday, September 8, the 54-year-old pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in prison - suspended for 21 months - and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work.
Rural Crime Team officers from Northamptonshire Police and the National Wildlife Crime Unit launched a joint investigation in July 2018, after Zheng was found to be selling illegal Musk products on the internet.
It soon became clear that Zheng was running a substantial online business which included the selling of Chinese medicines, which resulted in the execution of search warrants at several addresses.
