Following the recent indictments of several people allegedly involved in a monkey-smuggling operation, Cambodia has halted exports of non-human primates that are widely used in pharmaceutical research, a move that may crimp drug discovery efforts by a wide array of companies and institutions.
The development was disclosed by Inotiv, a contract research organization subpoenaed in connection with a U.S. government investigation into the importation of wild long-tail macaques. The indictments issued last month by the U.S. Attorney in Florida were directed at the company’s principal supplier of non-human primates, as well as two Cambodian wildlife officials.
