A Californian man accused of attempting to smuggle 15 protected Australian lizards to the US by strapping them to his chest has lost a bid to expose the identity of an informant who tipped off US authorities.
Michael Plank, 40, faces up to 20 years’ jail in the US if convicted of smuggling the 11 skinks, two geckos and two monitor lizards he allegedly collected in the Australian bush last November.
US authorities allege Plank is the owner of Big Game Reptiles, a Californian company promoting itself as a world leader in the breeding of Australian geckos.
On November 15 last year, two days before Plank boarded a United Airlines flight out of Sydney for Los Angeles, US authorities received “a call from a confidential informant” indicating Plank would be “smuggling lizards”, US prosecutors allege.
When Plank’s plane landed in LA a Customs officer performed a pat-down search on Plank and allegedly found two money belts containing 15 live lizards strapped to his chest.
Plank’s lawyer, Larry Bakman, called on US District Court judge Otis D. Wright to suppress evidence derived from the pat-down search, claiming the search was “unsupported by reasonable suspicion”. Mr Bakman also asked for an order disclosing the identity of the informant.
Judge Wright denied both motions, but left open the possibility of compelling the disclosure of the informant’s identity if Plank can “present new evidence”.
Plank has entered a not guilty plea to the smuggling charge and a jury trial is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles on July 27.