Abu Dhabi: Police come across an attempt to smuggle exotic animals into the UAE at least once or twice a month and have urged the public to first obtain the proper legal documents before transporting the animals.
Abdul Rab Al Hameri, head of the Convention on the Illegal Trade of Endangered Species (Cites) office in the UAE, said he had seen it all in the seven years he has been in his role.
Offenders who tried to smuggle exotic animals into the UAE included people who hid reptiles in their pockets to those, others who wrapped houbaras in their shawls, to organised criminal gangs, he said.
Al Hameri said his team worked in co-ordination with customs and other security agencies to curb the smuggling and illicit trade of endangered species, as listed in the Cites appendices.
Roughly 5,000 species of animals and 28,000 species of plants are listed in the Cites appendices in all.
"There are two types of cases — people who smuggle exotic species on purpose and people who unintentionally bring in animals, mostly their pets, listed in the Cites table without knowing they need to carry documents along," he said.
"Annually, we get almost equal numbers of both the types of cases".
The lack of awareness was not just a local issue as it not only involved UAE residents but many tourists too, he said.
Keeping tabs
And although a total of 33,000 species were on the list, it was not difficult for authorities to keep tabs on the illegal trade as offenders tended to focus on certain species, he noted.
Under the law, all endangered species, included those listed in the appendices, require a Cites certificate from their country of origin — in addition to an export or re-export permit issued by the relevant authorities.
The 2002 Federal Law number 11 on Regulating and Controlling International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora prohibits the sale or display of the creatures in public, without the necessary legal paperwork.
Offenders could face fines of between Dh5,000 to Dh50,000 and a jail term between three to six months.
Al Hameri said that during the first half of this year, the UAE Cites office issued 1,433 permits to allow the import, export and re-export of endangered animals and plants over the nation's borders.
Animals were more likely to be the victims of smuggling, he said. "Amongst them, birds — such as falcons and parrots — top the list of most confiscated species," he said.
The most recent high profile confiscation the department made was in May when 15 monkeys and two striped hyenas were confiscated from a villa in Al Khalidiya in Abu Dhabi where they were being kept for the purposes of resale, he said.
Tip-off
"We got a tip-off from a good samaritan about a group of animals kept in a small cage for sale," Al Hameri said.
Immediately an investigation was launched with the Abu Dhabi police and officials from the Ministry of Environment and Water, he said. The confiscated animals were safely transferred to the Abu Dhabi Wildlife Centre where they underwent the necessary medical examinations.
Customs officials regularly undergo training to spot suspicious-looking travellers, the official said.
Authorities had also raided several pet shops and confiscated specimens including monkeys, turtles, parrots and pythons.
"Prior to 2002, we used to have a big issue with falcon, ivory, caviar, etc, but now strict enforcement has brought down the number of confiscations," he said.
The official appealed to the public to ask for Cites documentation when they went shopping for pets, if they suspected the animal was an endangered species.
Smuggling: Recent cases worldwide
- In August 2010, a Malaysian man was arrested in Kuala Lumpur airport after 95 live snakes were found in his baggage that broke open on the baggage conveyor belt. The boa constrictors, few other species of snakes and a turtle were being taken to Indonesia.
- The same month, a British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14 peregrine falcon eggs, worth over Dh400,000, out of the United Kingdom on a flight bound to Dubai.
- Also in August, a Thai woman was arrested at the Bangkok airport after a drugged tiger cub was found in her luggage bag filled with stuffed animal toys. She was headed for Iran.
- In July 2010, a Mexican man was arrested in Mexico while attempting to smuggle 18 endangered monkeys by hiding them in a girdle around his waist. The titi monkeys were put into socks, killing two of them.
- In December 2009, a German tourist was arrested in New Zealand for attempting to smuggle 44 endangered New Zealand geckos and skinks by hiding them in his underwear.
Top ten weirdest finds by the UK Border agency
1. Snakes on a plane: A passenger travelling through Heathrow was stopped as he tried to take his pet Boa Constrictor snake into the United Kingdom by wrapping it around his leg.
2. Pet hate: When a striped animal skin was found in a man's luggage, officials suspected it was an endangered species. Tests identified it as the skin of a large domestic dog, which had been painted to look like a tiger skin
3. Under a vest: A passenger at Heathrow tried to smuggle 40 rare and endangered parrot eggs, including those of the highly rare Blue-headed Macaw, by hiding them in a specially-made vest worn under his shirt.
4. Pipe dreams: Twenty-six rare birds of prey were stuffed into plastic pipes for a thwarted smuggling attempt from Thailand.
5. Poisonous delivery: A parcel coming from Tanzania attracted suspicions — an X-ray revealed two highly venomous snakes, a puff adder and a Gaboon viper packed inside.
6. Mean medicine: A sniffer dog at Heathrow alerted officers to a passenger arriving from Shanghai. He was found to be carrying 42 dried seahorses to be ground up and used as Chinese traditional medicine.
7. 8,000-legged surprise: a British man attempted to smuggle 1,000 spiders individually boxed live into his suitcase. The spiders, which included several venomous species such as tarantulas, had been checked in as baggage.
8. Holiday horror: A British couple returning from their Corfu holiday tried to smuggle seven wild tortoises home. They cruelly resorted to taping one of the animals up to stop it from moving.
9. Video nasty: Officers at Gatwick Airport discovered three rare Copes Alligator lizards smuggled inside a video tape.
10. Pigeon mystery: Officers foiled an attempt to smuggle a mysterious brief case full of dead pigeons into the United Kingdom. Some of the birds, which were found at Gatwick airport, had all of their feathers removed, leading officials to suspect they may have been headed for British restaurants.
- Source: UK government website
