A South Korean man who expected to be paid a few thousand dollars for smuggling rare geckos out of the country has instead been jailed for 14 months.
Gunak Lee, 23 and unemployed, was caught in a sting in October with an undercover Department of Conservation officer at an Auckland hotel.
He thought he was buying 10 geckos for several thousand dollars, but the officer handed over just two in the operation, with the rest of the containers empty and hidden.
A search warrant was executed when Lee got back to his hotel room to check how many of the prized jewelled geckos he had.
Lee planned to fly back to South Korea that day, thinking he would only be fined if he was stopped at the border.
But, at the Manukau District Court on Friday, Lee was sentenced for buying the protected jewelled geckos and possession of a threatened species.
“Wildlife doesn’t have brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers to call the police if something happens,” Department of Conservation prosecutor Mike Bodie said.
He said the transaction was clearly part of a planned international smuggling operation.
“This wasn’t spare of the moment; it was clearly a plan and premeditated,” Bodie said.
He said the jewelled geckos were “beautiful, attractive, unusual, but are animals” that could not sustain being exploited.
Jewelled geckos were found only in New Zealand, and their conservation status is classified as “at risk – declining”. The species were found in pockets of Canterbury, Otago and Southland.
DOC called for a starting point of two years’ prison.
The maximum penalty for buying protected wildlife was two years’ jail, or a $100,000 fine, or both.
If the court wass satisfied it was for commercial gain or reward, this increased to five years’ jail, or a $300,000 fine, or both.
On the other charge of possessing a threatened species, the maximum sentence is three years’ jail, or a $50,000 fine, or both.
Lee’s lawyer, Joon Yi, said a starting point of six months was appropriate because Lee was exploited, fell victim to others and was naive.
“He’s so naive that even his own hotel, that he stayed in, he paid for out of his own pocket without any assurance he would be paid back or anything like that,” he said.
Yi said his client’s previous employer, who he thought of as an older brother, offered him the opportunity with a third party.
He thought “that would be it”, and the consequences were never explained to Lee, his lawyer said.
The undercover sting
Because of their rarity, distinctive features and striking colour, jewelled geckos were highly sought after in illegal international trading, according to DOC.
This was especially so in Europe, where a gecko could sell for more than €7000 (NZ$14,000).
The summary of facts detailed Lee’s offending and the sting that led to his arrest.
On October 13, he flew from South Korea to Auckland, arriving on a visitor visa.
Three days later, he met with an undercover DOC officer in the lobby of an Auckland hotel where he was staying, a meeting that he had arranged earlier online.
There, he agreed to buy 10 New Zealand green geckos for US$15,000 (NZ$25,998) cash.
The undercover officer had prepared a bag with several clear plastic containers, with the top two, in view, containing jewelled geckos.
It was pre-arranged that Lee would check the top containers to confirm geckos were there, pay US$5000 (NZ$8666), and return to his room to confirm the rest.
There was an agreement that once Lee was satisfied, he would return to the lobby and pay the remaining money.
But he was arrested when he got back to his room, and the two geckos were recovered unharmed.
A search of his hotel room found another US$10,000 (NZ$17,332) and containers to get the geckos out of the country.
In an interview, Lee said his flights and hotel were paid for by a third party he had not met.
Lee was expecting to be paid between NZ$3600 and $4800 to act as the gecko courier.
He said he had taken the risk because he was told he would only be fined if he was stopped at the border, and it would be paid for him.
Lee claimed he was unaware it was illegal to buy or possess wildlife in New Zealand.
He said he would have put each gecko inside a sock, and then inside a cardboard box before hiding them in his suitcase to fly back to South Korea that afternoon.
The 14-month sentence
Judge David McNaughton said he accepted Lee was not the principal offender.
“Whoever that person was, he arranged all of this at a distance,” he told Lee.
“He was insulating himself from any risk of getting caught, and clearly he was also doing this for commercial gain or reward, so it was a commercial operation.”
The judge did not accept the defendant’s starting point of six months in jail, and started at two years.
He gave credit for Lee’s guilty plea, his age, and his lack of previous convictions.
“And to a certain extent, but not totally, your naivety, and the fact that you cooperated when you were interviewed.”
Judge McNaughton also imposed standard six-month conditions after release from his 14-month prison term, but told Lee he would likely be deported straight away.
rnz.co.nz
