US authorities have arrested a Japanese national on charges of trafficking in protected butterflies in violation of US laws and an international treaty that protects endangered species.
Hisayoshi Kojima, 55, was arrested without incident at Los Angeles International Airport Monday after arriving from Japan with several butterfly specimens in his possession, the US District Attorney's office said on Tuesday.
The arrest followed a three-year undercover investigation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service that found that Kojima allegedly sold and smuggled numerous endangered butterfly species to the United States.
Last month, a federal grand jury charged Kojima with 17 violations of environmental and customs laws.
The indictment alleges that he had smuggled into the United States a pair of Queen Alexandra's birdwings, an endangered species that is the largest butterfly in the world.
