Indictment for smuggling illegal wildlife parts

St. Paul, Minn. — A federal grand jury has indicted two Twin Cities women with smuggling protected wildlife items into the U.S.

The indictment charges Pa Lor of Oakdale and Tia Yang of Lake Elmo with smuggling and selling endangered wildlife parts at the International Marketplace in St. Paul.

Greg Jackson, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Midwest region would not comment specifically on the indictment. But he said the U.S. continues to be one of the largest consumers of wildlife parts and even live animals.

"There's a lot of resources out there that are highly collectible or used among certain cultures, highly valued and rare. And some people are certainly willing to pay for them," said Jackson.

The indictment says authorities found nearly 1400 wildlife items in Lor's baggage as she arrived at the Minneapolis airport in 2005. The wildlife included Asian elephant, giant squirrel, leopard cat, mongoose, and the elegant flying squirrel.