tested smuggling from the airport Barcelona 72 live Aldabra giant tortoises from Seychelles for the purpose of traffic with them. However, it was discovered by the Civil Guards. He hid them in his hand luggage. By pulling the thread, the researchers discovered that DV was feeding more exotic animals such as Australian pythons, a chameleon, Florida turtles and Siamese crocodiles on a farm in Sant Vicenç de Moltalt. The Environment Branch of the Prosecutor’s Office of Barcelona, in the indictment that El Periódico de Catalunya accessed, the total for this person Five and a half years in prison and a fine of 350,000 euros for smuggling protected fauna and being involved in a criminal group. The other two defendants, who are on trial for 8 months in prison and a fine, are his wife and father-in-law.
The Italian national DV left Terminal 1 of El Prat airport at around 10:30 am on April 5, 2019. It was from the Seychelles. He entered the green channel through which those who had nothing to declare, but a civil servant stopped him and ordered him to open his carry-on luggage. The agent discovered 72 giant Aldabra tortoises inside. His aim, the prosecution stated, was to smuggle them “without or without possession”. no import, export or holding license It will be able to legally protect the ownership and subsequent trade in endangered species, as determined by international conventions on trade in endangered species or European Community regulation.
Prosecutor, because the animals owned by the defendant were obtained illegally in his country, never get the documents anything to cover its importation and legal ownership. The confiscated turtles were valued at 112,200 euros and were transferred to the Zoo in Masquefa and the Catalonia Amphibian and Reptile Rescue Centre. Later, due to their increased size, they were distributed all over Spain in various reserves and enclosures.
Terrariums and exotic animals
But in the prosecution’s view, DV has since 2011 been devoted to possessing and selling exotic animals from his home in Sant Vicenç de Montalt and “other places unidentified”. They were mainly reptiles. And without complying with legal requirements “to obtain substantial interests” for its property and trade, amount. Before it was discovered, he had traveled to the Seychelles seven times, Sri Lanka five times, Cairo (Egypt) three times, and the Mauritius Islands three times, bringing exotic reptiles to Spain for sale.
The accused kept these animals on a farm in Sant Vicenç de Montalt, which he rented from his father-in-law, who was also the accused. In that place the defendants They were organizing a shed and found 27 empty terrariums with 19 lamps and a freezer with eight kilos of chicks. to feed the animals. Specimens of the spurred tortoise, chameleon, python, and other exotic animals tampered with were found in the same entry and entry. None of them have been marked or microchipped to allow them to be legally identified. The prosecution points out that these defendants collaborated with the DV woman, who opened a web page on the Internet specializing in the commercialization of reptiles and amphibians.