7/6/2023 0 Comments The lizard king bryan christy![]() In the early 1990s, Fish and Wildlife Services agent Chip Bepler set his sights on Van Nostrand. ![]() He exploited loopholes in the international treaty on endangered-species trade and paid off corrupt officials. Van Nostrand imported reptiles of all shapes and sizes, usually concealed in the suitcases or clothing of his mules, and sold them to collectors and pet stores. Mike Van Nostrand inherited Strictly Reptiles, an import-export business in Florida, from his father, Ray, turning it into a multimillion-dollar smuggling operation. Freelance writer Christy’s debut is an enthusiastic but scattered chronicle of the rise and fall of a lizard kingpin and the federal agent who pursued him. ![]() Albino pythons, endangered lizards and other reptiles are the currency of an underworld as dangerous and lucrative as the drug trade. ![]()
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