United Kingdom-based wildlife trade monitor Traffic has taken the Malaysian government to task for failing to stop Anson Wong aka ‘The Lizard King' after Al Jazeera television network reported that the convicted wildlife smuggler was still active.

Steve Chao aljazeera 101 presenter lizard king wildlife trafficking Traffic said that it was "very worrying" that Wong simply pointed to the Malaysian government when confronted with evidence by Al Jazeera TV reporter Steve Chao that the Penangite was moving endangered reptiles such as rare Madagascar tortoises and snakes around the world.

Traffic is a partner of the World Wife Fund for Nature (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

After gathering evidence from wildlife buyers and traders that pointed to Wong, Chao confronted the Lizard King at the end of the documentary and Wong only says: "Ask the government... I have no comment."

"The information and connections unearthed by this documentary lead us to question whether the Malaysian Department of Wildlife and National Parks, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Attorney-General's Chambers or any other agency in Malaysia ever conducted any further investigations into the contents of Anson Wong's laptop and the three handphones confiscated during this arrest in 2010," Traffic's Southeast legal and policy officer Shenaaz Khan said in a statement.

'Government agencies have no excuse'

"If a news agency, with no enforcement powers and little access to information, could unearth such damning details, there is no excuse for government agencies with full enforcement powers not to do more and act on what they find."

In 2010, Wong was caught heading for Jakarta with 95 boa constrictors. After his arrest, Malaysia revoked all his wildlife trading permits and ordered the seizure of all his animals, including two tigers and a crocodile.

anson wong aljazeera 101 lizard king wildlife trafficking In the Al Jazeera video , which was also aired on the Astro network this morning, the Doha-TV station's reporter Steve Chao tracks Wong's network from Madagascar to Indonesia and even snoops around Wong's house in Penang.

The US$19 billion illegal animals trade, it says, is now the world's most lucrative black market, after drugs and firearms.

In the documentary, Natural Resources and Environment Minister G Palanivel denies any knowledge about Wong in the undated interview: "I do not know who this person is. I have not come across him but only today I was told about this."

However, Palanivel then went on to praise his ministry's actions: "Our ministry has taken the right move in cancelling business licences and permits."

NONE Asked whether Wong could still be active, Palanivel said: "I hope not, but we don't know. You see... people can do many things illegally without our knowledge."

Wong has been notoriously-linked with the wildlife trade for more than a decade.

Before his conviction in 2010, Wong was indicted in 2001, based on evidence from a three-year joint ‘sting' operation conducted by the governments of Mexico and the United States, together with Interpol.

"The Al Jazeera documentary, titled ‘The ‘Return of the Lizard King', raises so many doubts and questions about Malaysia's commitment to that fight. It is time we had some solid answers from the government," Sheenaz said.

Meanwhile, news agency AFP reported that Malaysia's Wildlife Department enforcement director Kadir Hashim would only confirm that Wong's permits remained revoked.

"The department is investigating both" Wong and (his wife) Cheah, Kadir said in an email response to an AFP inquiry, without elaborating further.