MEXICO: A Mexican man who reportedly tried to smuggle 11 rare iguanas from the Galapagos Islands has been arrested as he tried to leave the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ecuadorean authorities reported on Monday.
According to officials, the man captured the iguanas whilst posing as a tourist on the island of Santa Cruz. He was stopped at the island’s Puerto Ayora on Sunday with 11 iguanas at the back of his vehicle.
Wildlife trafficking is one of the world’s most lucrative black market activities in the world and the Galapagos Islands are a hotspot for smugglers.
The Mexican citizen was nabbed after local environmental authorities undertook an operation to route out smugglers via increased surveillance.
“(The suspect) transported marine iguanas and land iguanas, which are protected species under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and they’re also classified as vulnerable species by the UICN (International Union for Conservation of Nature),” said Danny Rueda, Ecosystems Director at The Galapagos National Park.
The Mexican citizen faces up to three years in prison in Ecuador for wildlife smuggling with iguanas fetching up to $25,000 each on the black market.
Packed into a sack, the animals were seized by rangers and checked for any injuries.
Rueda told media that two are being treated for stress.
“There are two individual (iguanas) who are under great stress but they their condition is good. The land iguanas were evaluated, measured, weights and we took their information,” he added.
The volcanic islands of the Galapagos, located 1050 km (625 miles) west of Ecuador’s coast, inspired British naturalist Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
