All licences and special permits issued to international wildlife trader Wong Keng Liang aka Anson Wong, and his wife to sell or possess wildlife have been revoked.

In a statement here today, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said the decision was made with the consent of the minister, Douglas Uggah Embas, on Sept 22.

Hence, the new application from Wong's wife, Cheah Bing Shee, to obtain a permit to export wildlife under the International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008, had been denied, it said.

In 2000, Wong was sentenced to 71 months' jail in the United States after he pleaded guilty to illegal wildlife trafficking.

On Aug 26, this year, the 52-year-old was detained at the KL International Airport, following the seizure of more than 90 snakes from his luggage.

On Sept 6, Wong was sentenced to six months' jail and fined RM190,000 by the Magistrate Court in Sepang.

Many others like Wong

In an immediate reaction, the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network applauded the ministry's action.

Its deputy regional director (Southeast Asia), Chris Shepherd said such strong measures would dawn on wildlife criminals that Malaysia was serious in fighting the scourge.

"As significant a player as Wong was in the wildlife trafficking world, he is not the only one, and is certainly not working alone.

"It takes many hands to illegally capture, kill, transport and smuggle wildlife across borders, and these networks need looking into," he said in a statement today.

- Bernama