Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006

Trio nabbed in illicit orchid sale
Kyodo News

Two men and a woman were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of selling an
endangered orchid on the Internet, sales of which are banned under the
species preservation law, police said.

The two men, Shi Guoqi, 24, an Osaka University student, and Wu Cheng,
25, from Chiba Prefecture, and Zhang Nan, 24, who lives with Wu, are
suspected of putting 16 paphiopedilum plants up for sale on an Internet
auction Web site between May and July and selling three plants to two
buyers for a total of 12,000 yen.

Shi and Wu have admitted smuggling the plants into Japan from China,
police said, adding that they are investigating possible violations of
the customs law. They are also questioning a company employee in Osaka
over suspected involvement in the sales.

North Korea exploded a nuclear bomb.

Mick