HBO docuseries Monsters of God explores global reptile smuggling

The HBO docuseries ‘Monsters of God’, directed by Eric Goode, is concluding its five-part season exploring the global underworld of exotic reptile smuggling. The series, based on Bryan Christy’s book ‘The Lizard King’, examines the evolution of the trade from the 1960s to the present.

The season finale, titled ‘Head of the Snake’, is scheduled to release on September 3. This episode shifts focus from American smugglers to international operations, specifically targeting Malaysian kingpin Anson Wong. The episode follows U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent George Morrison as he goes undercover to penetrate Wong’s network.

Previous episodes have detailed the activities of international traffickers such as German dealers Wolfgang Kloe and Frank Lehmeyer. In the late 1990s, Kloe and Lehmeyer were apprehended for allegedly running a ring that poached rare snakes and tortoises from Madagascar, smuggling them through Europe to the United States and Canada via airline passenger baggage.