Authorities bust ring smuggling plants to Asia

These succulents can be sold for $0 each in China and Korea.

PEOPLE SMUGGLE the weirdest things: Ivory, eels, rhino horns, elephant tusks, shark fins. The latest thing that has proven to be lucrative -- and far less dangerous to gather -- are those little green succulents that grow up and down the California coast.

California wildlife officials uncovered an smuggling operation in which thieves from Korea and China ship these little succulents to Asia where they fetch up to $50 a plant.

Known as Dudleya farinosa, the thick-leaved starburst-like light green succulents grow wild in nature, clinging to rocky landscapes. This plant is native to the coastline of Oregon and northern California, where it is commonly found on bluffs and coastal hillsides. 

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says the global black market operation started after people sending packages of plants indicated "valuable things" were inside, according to NBC-TV.

"Next thing you know there's pieces of dirt coming out of the packages and they're thinking 'that's kind of weird,'" said Patrick Foy from the DFW.
Smugglers have been illegally snipping them from their rocky perches and shipping them to Asia where they are prized for their beauty.

Admired for their hardiness, they are popular in homeowner yards because they are drought tolerant. The plants burst into beauty when they bloom, erecting a tall stem and a candelabra-like cluster of yellow flowers.

Operators have been arrested along the Calfiornia coast and in Las Vegas where investigators found hundreds of the cactus-like plants in boxes in their rented vehicles.

In one such bust in northern California, wildlife officers pulled over a suspects’ van, rented at the Las Vegas airport, made arrests and seized 1,334 plants — all on their way to being shipped overseas. The suspects often speak little English.

Authorities then raided the suspects’ cabin among the redwoods and found another 1,000 of the succulents there.

"These plants are part of the ecosystem," said Emeritus director of UC Santa Cruz Arboretum Stephen McCabe. "There are butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, robber flies, all sorts of things that are associated with these."

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