Obviously there are distasteful things about this story - buying plants from the wild, "smuggling", etc.
But really, the article is bizarre. It sounds like growing nepenthes itself is illegal in the US - which is complete nonsense. Also "started buying more and more plants" sounds like almost everyone of us here. He spent more than he earned on plants, which is pretty stupid for a "smuggling" business.
This sounds more like the authorities found someone breaking the law, so they spent more than he ever earned investigating him for years - when it is likely they could have accused him of the same and got the same result. If he was getting them in without a CITES certificate, that was that.
I know a lot of people don't like "smugglers". But frankly, I'm more worried about the Nepenthes rajah and the 150 (likely more) nepenthes who lost their human taking care of them.
There is little they achieved other than preventing a guy from selling illegally acquired sales.
Also the "dirt on the roots" and "pests" is pure ********. Lots of barerooted plants often have media on the roots. And if anyone here claims plants grown in cultivation don't have pests, they are bullshitting. He was not the one who poached them, and unless he admitted to knowing that he purchased from poachers, all he did was purchased plants without proper certificates - which, let us admit it, are expensive - we'd rather buy another plant with the money.
They didn't get the Malaysian poacher who is still active - or is actually running a legit business and supplying certificates to those who pay for them. In other words, what the chap probably needed was a lawyer. Sadly, he couldn't sell his Nepenthes collection to pay for them, because the state probably stole it in the name of evidence.
I hate the rape of the wilderness, sure, but this is reading more like a story of "state got small guy for lack of paperwork". And let us not even pretend that proper established smuggling businesses wouldn't have a way of getting the CITES certificates done - if need be, buy running a nursery as a front.
The story would hold weight if they actually caught the guys poaching from the wilds. All they got was a hobbyist looking to earn some money to fund his hobby.
I don't know about US or Malaysia, but in India such laws are used more to harass people than to actually protect anything. You can't fix poaching in Malaysia by arresting small timers in the US. The country has to be interested in saving its species. Or there will be an endless supply of people to arrest because they got lured by a chap who provided affordable plants and absolutely no change to the species being protected except for a few "evidence" specimens likely dying from inexperienced care (or someone getting a lot of someone else's expensive plants for free in the name of justice).
I guess I am cynical. Commenting on politics in India will do that to you.
'The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.' ~ Anatole France
Very often what appears to be "justice" is a matter of money giving access to legitimacy. Paying for a certificate doesn't actually protect plants (which are usually at greatest danger from their own governments allowing threats to their environment). If you run a massive nursery or are rich, you can afford "exotic" plants with CITES certificates. If you are not, and cut corners, you are a criminal. That is all. The source of the plants could well be the same.
Note: The Malaysian source is not actually proved to be a poacher.