A CHINESE working on board a foreign vessel was fined $3,500 in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday after authorities found dried crocodile skin in his possession.
Wang Peisheng, 29, from Mainland China was charged with possession of prohibited specimen contrary to section 26 (a) of the Wildlife Protection Management Act 1998.
He pleaded guilty to the charge.
The court heard that on March 11 this year, Custom Officers conducted a search in the Foreign Steam Ship anchored outside Fox Wood logging camp.
This was after they received information from reliable sources that some crew members were in possession of parrots.
The vessel, MV Asia Forest, has just returned from a trip to Isabel Province.
Customs official after searching the ship found a dried crocodile skin of about 30 meters long and four inches in diameter at the Engineers’ crew quarters.
During the search Customs also confiscated undeclared goods namely five laptops, one DVD player, 27 Chinese whiskey and two bags containing various species of beche-de-mer.
The accused reported got the crocodile skin in return for packets of noodles he gave a boy at Sabana village.
During mitigation his lawyer Stanley Aupai told the court this is the accused’s first trip to the Solomon Islands and has not realise his actions until he was arrested yesterday.
Principal Magistrate Steve Wilson during the sentencing said any breach of this act is a serious matter.
“The method used to obtain the crocodile skin suggests what he did will encourage Solomon Islands people to trade certain species of animals for a cheap reward,” Mr Wilson said.
“A message needs to be sent out to people who come to Solomon Islands that any attempts made to break the law especially protected animals are to be dealt with harshly,” Mr Wilson said.
The maximum penalty for the offence is $10,000, however the starting point of the fine imposed for the accused is $5,000.
Due to his early guilty plea and for being a first offender the fine was reduced to $3,500 which he must pay immediately or go to prison for four months.
Mr Wilson also ordered that the dried crocodile skin be forfeited to the state.
By ASSUMPTA PIVA
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