A case concerning three people accused of smuggling monitor lizards was heard Tuesday at a court in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local procuratorate said Monday.
It is alleged that the three defendants -- identified only by their surnames: Liu, Sun and Huang -- conspired to smuggle monitor lizards from Vietnam to China last year, said the procuratorate of the China-Vietnam border city of Fangchenggang.
Liu transported the lizards from Vietnam to China by on May 18. Local police were alerted to the transfer of the lizards from the tricycle to a car, according to the procuratorate.
Police arrested Huang at the scene, and seized 64 monitor lizards two had died. Sun surrendered himself to the police and Liu was arrested later.
The verdict will be announced at another date.
Monitor lizards are an endangered species native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is under top grade national-level protection in China.
