Two German men have been found guilty and fined after being arrested and charged by Customs investigators for attempting to smuggle a large quantity of protected fungi out of Australia.

Dr Heinrich Dorfelt, 67, and Dr Heinrich Bruno Albrecht Berg, 48, appeared in Perth Magistrates Court this week and pleaded guilty to the charges of exporting a regulated native species without a permit under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The men were convicted and each fined $3000 and ordered to pay $260 in court costs.

Customs National Manager Investigations, Richard Janeczko, said the penalty should serve as warning to those considering smuggling Australian flora and fauna and damaging our unique environment.

“All attempts to take protected species in or out of the country are taken seriously whether it is an animal or in this case a regulated native plant species,” Mr Janeczko said.

Customs stopped the men last Friday (3 October) at Perth International Airport when they attempted to leave on a flight to Singapore.

Customs examined their baggage and found over 160 endangered fungus and fungi spore samples.

Source: Australian Customs Service

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