Thanks for posting. Sadly many don't get it....

That is quite a shame. How can somebody even aware of the plants, also be unaware of the importance of conserving them in their habitat. I guess obsessive collectors don't care when they can make a lot of money.

Skip, to make things worse, it's pure greed. He's also (but may not be any more) a nursery owner, with a particular interest in succulent Ascleps, so he was doing this for personal enrichment.

I just tried to look at Never Enough Cactus‘ Instagram and store site, but they’re down. The guy that got arrested is the owner of Never Enough Cactus. What a crappy name for a store considering what he got arrested for. For some reason my first thought when I figured out the guy who got arrested was the store owner of Never Enough Cactus, had me think this guy woulda never made it thru Willy Wonka’s factory, his greedy butt would have been eatin by a huge chocolate bunny or something along those lines;).

Did he think he was going to slip under the radar with 700+ succulents? Another issue, let’s say he made it back to Los Angeles I’m fairly certain a good majority of those stolen succulents, which I would bet were probably some delicate beautiful little mesembs, would die because they’ve been livin life in their native habitat forever, and now they’re going to be thrown in a pot. I don’t think many would survive that shock to the system. I would love to know what succulents he tried to smuggle.

Kara, I've met the fellow at a C&S Show, and he seemed like a decent sort. He even ended up with a plant that I originally grew, after a master cactus person who had passed away had his collection dispersed. He was particularly interested in succulent ascleps, and a lot of them, as you know, tend to be not all that large, so it would have been little problem to package hundreds of them (and, also as you know, they can stay out of soil / care for long periods of time).

Just like 12-15 years ago the American president of the cycad society was busted importing poached Cycads.

Today,those old trunking plants make up the majority of SA cycads in the SA garden at UC Berkeley botanical garden. I would think,those plants were the incentive to even create that garden 5 or 6 years later.

He got off easy re reading the story. Didn't have to pay the fine before he was deported. So,you know he hasn't paid a penny. Never spent time in jail.