It’s no surprise that a man alleged to be veteran wildlife trader Anson Wong was caught in possession of 90 snakes at a Malaysian airport.

You’d think that after Wong was convicted of trafficking highly endangered species by the US government and sentenced to 71 months of jail time, or after his companies CBS Wildlife and Sungai Rusa Wildlife were linked to US Global Exotics (USGE), the owner of whom is wanted by the US government for illegal wildlife trafficking, that lawmakers in Malaysia would step in to put an end to Anson’s dangerous and cruel exotic-pet.

The few laws and penalties that exist hardly dissuade dealers like Wong when compared to the kind of money that can be made from smuggling. And, of course, it’s the animals who pay the price in the end.

Wong supplied animals to USGE, where tens of thousands of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and arachnids — many of them sick, injured, dying, or dead — were confined in filthy, deplorable conditions.

More than 26,000 animals were seized by the US Fish and Wildlife Service from USGE.

Countless tigers, primates and other exotic species are bred or stolen from the wild specifically to be sold as pets. Babies are removed from their frantic mothers (who sometimes have to be sedated) so that the infants can be Sustain ability to human contact.

Traumatised and terrified, these young animals don't stand a chance of ever living as nature intended. Primates are diapered and often have their canine teeth yanked out.

Within weeks, tiger and cheetah cubs outgrow their ramshackle backyard pens and spend the rest of their lives pacing and yearning for something that they want and need but will never get: their freedom.

I hope Malaysian authorities will carry out a full investigation into Wong’s business practices and permanently ban him and others from exporting any animals.

It’s time this cruelty is stopped for good.

The writer is director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) Asia.