A Richmond antiques dealer pleaded guilty in New York Tuesday to attempting to smuggle rhinoceros horns purchased from American undercover agents into Canada.

Xiao Ju (Tony) Guan was arrested last May as part of a U.S. crackdown on illegal trafficking of rhino and elephant parts.

On May 29, the B.C. man flew from Vancouver to New York and bought two endangered black rhinoceros horns for $44,000 US from undercover special agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at a storage facility in the Bronx, according to court documents.

Guan later got the agents to drive him and a female accomplice acting as his interpreter to an express mail store, where he sent the horns to a Point Roberts address.

He falsely labelled the box as containing “handicrafts.”

Guan told the agents he would pick up the horns later and drive them to Canada, something he had done many times before.

As part of his plea deal, Guan admitted that he and others acting at his direction smuggled more than $400,000 worth of rhino horns and sculptures made from elephant ivory and coral from various U.S. auction houses to Canada.

Guan, who owns a company called Bao Antique Ltd. on Alderbridge Way in Richmond, could get up to 10 years in jail when he is sentenced in Manhattan federal court on March 13.

U.S. authorities had been watching him since 2012 as he made purchases, through online auctions, of rhinoceros horns, ivory and coral in Ohio, Iowa, Florida and California — all before the New York deal last May.

Sam Hirsch, acting assistant U.S. attorney general, said in a news release Tuesday that the U.S. “will aggressively prosecute anyone who illegally traffics in endangered wildlife species, in whatever form.”

“Rhinos and elephants are not antiques, as the president of an antique company engaged in international trade should know. These are iconic animals of prehistoric origin, fighting for their very survival as a species,” Hirsch said. “The illegal trade in rhino horn and elephant ivory and the escalation of black-market prices are directly related to horrific poaching on living animals.”

He said Canadian authorities assisted in the case.

U.S. attorney Preet Bharara said “the survival of these magnificent animals depends in large part on enforcement of laws and international treaties governing such trade.”

“Tony Guan’s admitted conduct increased the existential threat to these creatures, and now he awaits the penalty for that conduct,” he said.

kbolan@vancouversun.com

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