An international wildlife trafficker pleaded guilty on Thursday to smuggling $4.5 million worth of rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory from the United States to China, USA TODAY reported.
Zhifei Li, 29, of Shangdong, faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison on each of the 11 counts he will be sentenced for on April 1.
According to New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, who handled the case, the price for trafficked rhino horns have reached "unprecedented levels" at $17,500 per pound.
"The brutality of animal poaching, wherever it occurs, feeds the demand of a multibillion-dollar illegal international market,'' Fishman said.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Dreher also condemned the smuggling ring in a statement.
"Rhino horn can sell for more than gold and is just as rare, but rhino horn and elephant ivory are more than mere commodities. Each illegally traded horn or tusk represents a dead animal, poaching, bribery, smuggling and organized crime."
Court documents say Li paid an antiques dealer in Long Island City, Qiang Wang, for horns that were brought in by different people in New Jersey, Miami, and Ormand Beach, Fla., one of which was a part of a wildlife auction business in Missouri. The horns were allegedly sent to Hong Kong and then China, where they were sealed in duct tape and hidden in vases.
Two weeks ago, Wang was sentenced to 37 months in prison in New York.
All Rhinoceros species are protected under U.S. and international law and international trade of rhino horns and elephant ivory has been regulated since the mid-1970s. Over the past years, elephants have become constant victim to ivory hunters.
