Dubai: Sharjah police have arrested a gang of people trying to smuggle eight small crocodiles to the emirate.
Sharjah police have arrested a group of Gulf nationality who were trying to smuggle nine rare exotic birds and eight small crocodiles, Environment Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) in Sharjah has confirmed in a press statement on Wednesday.
The statement says that the EPPA has prevent the prevented the smuggling of a number of animals that are included within the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on land borders, in cooperation with the Sharjah Police General Headquarters.
A group of people with Gulf nationality, were caught attempting to smuggle nine birds and small crocodiles as they entered the UAE. The confiscated animals are not only endangered species, but are listed under the CITES, Class 1. Al Madam Police Station have taken all necessary measures against them, in addition to handing over the confiscated crocodiles and birds to the EPAA.
The Siamese crocodile, which was confiscated, is one of the rarest animals and classed as a critically endangered species. One of the confiscated birds, Hornbill, is one of the rarest birds on the planet. There are a small number of hornbills in Africa, and the tropical forests of Asia.
The second species of the confiscated birds is the helmeted hornbill, which belongs to the hornbill family, yet it is different in terms of size, horn density and formation.
In accordance with local and international environmental laws that prohibit the trade in endangered animals, the EPAA issued fines against the smugglers in addition to confiscation of the animals and birds they had in their possession.
According to the list of fines stipulated by Sharjah Executive Council Resolution No. (30) of 2014 regarding the possession of dangerous and predatory animals, the fine for the possession of dangerous and predatory animals in houses or farms in Sharjah, regardless of their purpose, is up to Dh100,000.
However, the fine for transporting dangerous and predatory animals from one place to another, inside or outside Sharjah without the prior approval of EPAA, is Dh10,000.
