Posted on 09/08/2017 11:22:17 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Rodrigo Franco, 34, admitted to smuggling another 20 or so cobras, as well as sending protected turtles to Hong Kong.
A Monterey Park man who accepted packages containing three highly venomous king cobras coiled up in potato chip canisters pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal wildlife smuggling charge.
Rodrigo Franco, 34, admitted to smuggling another 20 or so cobras, as well as sending protected turtles to Hong Kong, according to his plea agreement. Prosecutors agreed to seek a sentence of no more than 18 months in exchange for the plea.
A Dec. 7 sentencing hearing was set by U.S. District Judge George Wu in downtown Los Angeles.
In early March, U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspected a package sent from Hong Kong and discovered three live black-and-yellow king cobra snakes -- protected and highly poisonous reptiles -- each 2 feet long.
In addition to the three snakes, the parcel being sent through the mail contained three albino Chinese soft-shelled turtles.
On the same date, Franco also mailed six protected turtles -- desert box turtles, three-toed box turtles and ornate box turtles -- from the United States to Hong Kong, but that shipment also was intercepted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Because of the danger associated with the cobras, the snakes were seized from the package that had come from Hong Kong. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service made a controlled delivery of the soft-shelled turtles to Franco's home. Immediately after the package -- with turtles removed -- was delivered, federal agents executed a search warrant at the residence.
While searching the home, agents found the package that originated in Hong Kong in a children's bedroom, in which they also discovered a tank containing a live baby crocodile and tanks containing alligator snapping turtles, a common snapping turtle, and five diamond back terrapins -- all of which are protected species, according to investigators.
During a subsequent interview with authorities, Franco admitted that he had previously received 20 king cobras in two prior shipments -- but he said all of those snakes had died in transit, federal prosecutors said. During the ensuing investigation, authorities obtained evidence from Franco's phone, which contained messages in which he and someone in Asia allegedly discussed shipping turtles and snakes between the United States and Asia. The messages indicate that Franco had previously received live cobras from his contact in Asia and was going to give five of the snakes to a relative of his contact, according to prosecutors.
The cobras and other reptiles are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement designed to save threatened species from endangerment and illegal trade.
Put this idiot in front of a jury. I would have found him guilty of attempted murder.
Among that crowd, cobras are considered defensive and unpredictable, but they're popular because...they're cobras...
I’d rather have a Shelby Cobra.
I see you’re at it again.
LOL!
Cobras in a can.
Also serves as a neighborhood warning regarding indoor plumbing.
= = = = = = =
Wouldn’t that be Cobras in THE can?
True.
Mambas are as calculating and deadly as Cottonmouths are psychotic and murderous. I worked with a Green Mamba at the Knoxville Zoo in the reptile display and was always cognizant of the danger when cleaning his area. No other dangerous snake made me as nervous as did a Mamba. Cottonmouths are just psychotic and strike with malice and carelessness. A Mamba is cold and very precise in its intentions.
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