Latest news with #CITES
Global News
2 days ago
- Global News
Snakes on a plane: Border staff seize dozens of hidden venomous serpents
Customs officials in India stopped and arrested an airline passenger travelling from Thailand after they say he was caught smuggling dozens of venomous snakes and other small reptiles into the busy city of Mumbai. The poisonous serpents, which included 44 Indonesian pit vipers, were 'concealed in checked-in baggage,' Mumbai customs agents said in a post on Sunday. 'An Indian national arriving from Thailand was arrested,' the statement added. Officials said the passenger also stashed three spider-tailed horned vipers — venomous snakes that primarily target small prey such as birds — and five Asian leaf turtles. Mumbai customs shared images of the brightly coloured reptiles on X. On 01.06.2025, officers at CSMIA seized 3 Spider-Tailed Horned Vipers & 5 Asian Leaf Turtles (CITES Appendix-II), along with 44 Indonesian Pit Vipers, concealed in checked-in baggage. An Indian national arriving from Thailand was arrested. — Mumbai Customs-III (@mumbaicus3) June 1, 2025 Story continues below advertisement Mumbai customs shares photographs of its seizures regularly. Most appear to be drugs, gold or cash-related interceptions, with some travellers attempting to conceal illegal substances 'inside the body cavities,' according to the border agency, but the illegal smuggling of exotic wildlife is relatively common. In February, agents stopped a smuggler carrying five siamang gibbons, a species of small, endangered apes native to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. According to the post, the animals were 'ingeniously concealed' in plastic boxes and cages, which were placed inside the passenger's trolley bag. On the night of 04-05 Feb'25, customs officers at CSMIA, Mumbai, booked a case of smuggling 5 Siamang Gibbons (Symphalangus syndactylus) under Appendix I of CITES & Schedule IV of the amended Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Action under the Act is being initiated @cbic_india — Mumbai Customs-III (@mumbaicus3) February 5, 2025 In November 2024, agents discovered a package of 12 exotic turtles, which the Wildlife Bureau identified as Japanese pond turtles and scorpion mud turtles, being smuggled by a passenger coming from Bangkok, Thailand. A month before, staff intercepted two passengers coming from Bangkok with two Visayan hornbills, birds typically found in Filipino wetlands, on their person. Story continues below advertisement In September 2024, authorities halted a 'significant case of smuggling of wildlife' when staff recovered five baby caiman crocodiles. On 04.11.2024, the officers at CSMI Airport, Mumbai, intercepted 02 pax coming from Bangkok and seized 12 exotic Turtle species. The Wildlife Bureau identified them as Japanese Pond Turtles (08) & Scorpion Mud Turtles (04), (all Listed in Appendix-II of CITES). 02 pax arrested. — Mumbai Customs-III (@mumbaicus3) November 5, 2024 A 2024 report on wildlife trafficking by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that the 'global scope and scale of wildlife crime remain substantial.' Seizures from 2015 to 2021 indicate 'an illegal trade in 162 countries and territories affecting around 4,000 plant and animal species,' of which 3,250 are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Story continues below advertisement The most commonly affected species of both plants and animals are rare orchids, succulents, reptiles, fish, birds and mammals, and their trafficking has played a major role in their 'local' or 'global' extinctions, the report says. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Meanwhile, in Canada, species at risk of being targeted include cougars, geese, lynx, moose, crabs, eels, lobsters, narwhals, turtles and wolves, according to Canada's financial intelligence agency. Trafficking also has negative knock-on effects on the environment as well as human longevity, as it can disrupt the balance of ecosystems and impact their ability to help regulate and mitigate climate change, which in turn damages the natural benefits humans derive from their environment. 'Wildlife crime also threatens the socioeconomic benefits people derive from nature, including as a source of income, employment, food, medicine, culture, and more. It further corrodes good governance and the rule of law through corruption, money laundering and illicit financial flows,' the report says. Story continues below advertisement Wildlife crimes are often orchestrated by far-reaching criminal enterprises that are embedded in roles across the global trade chain, including in breeding and storage methods, and are adept at manipulating and exploiting weaknesses and inconsistencies in regulations.
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Snakes on a plane: Indian smuggler caught with venomous vipers
In this Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015 photo, an aircraft flies above the slums near the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade) A passenger smuggling dozens of venomous vipers was stopped after flying into the financial capital Mumbai from Thailand, Indian customs officials said. The snakes, which included 44 Indonesian pit vipers, were 'concealed in checked-in baggage', Mumbai Customs said in a statement late Sunday. 'An Indian national arriving from Thailand was arrested,' it added. The passenger, details of whom were not released, also had three Spider-tailed horned vipers -- which are venomous, but usually only target small prey such as birds -- as well as five Asian leaf turtles. Mumbai Customs issued photographs of the seized snakes, including blue and yellow reptiles squirming in a bucket. On 01.06.2025, officers at CSMIA seized 3 Spider-Tailed Horned Vipers & 5 Asian Leaf Turtles (CITES Appendix-II), along with 44 Indonesian Pit Vipers, concealed in checked-in baggage. An Indian national arriving from Thailand was arrested. — Mumbai Customs-III (@mumbaicus3) June 1, 2025 The snakes are a relatively unusual seizure in Mumbai, with customs officers more regularly posting pictures of hauls of smuggled gold, cash, cannabis or pills of suspected cocaine swallowed by passengers. However, in February, customs officials at Mumbai airport also stopped a smuggler with five Siamang gibbons, a small ape native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Those small creatures, listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, were 'ingeniously concealed' in a plastic crate placed inside the passenger's trolley bag, customs officers said. In November, customs officers seized a passenger carrying a wriggling live cargo of 12 turtles, and a month before, four hornbill birds, all on planes arriving from Thailand. In September, two passengers were arrested with five juvenile caimans, a reptile in the alligator family.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dead, dried and hidden in cargo: The global illegal seahorse trade is growing fast
Close to five million smuggled seahorses, worth an estimated €18.5 million, were seized over the past decade. It is a staggering number that researchers say still underrepresents the true scale of the illegal trade. A new study published in Conservation Biology examined global wildlife seizure data from 2010 to 2021 and discovered that seahorses – either dead and dried or alive – were most often found hidden in luggage or shipped by sea cargo across 62 countries. The majority were bound for traditional medicine markets in Asia. But those aren't the only markets anymore. The researchers discovered that Europe and Latin America are increasingly showing up in trafficking routes, too. 'The nearly 300 seizures we analysed were based only on online records and voluntary disclosures including government notices and news stories,' says Dr Sarah Foster, a research associate at the University of British Columbia's Project Seahorse and the study's lead author. 'What we're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.' Seahorses have long been prized in traditional medicine, especially in China and Hong Kong, where they're dried, ground into powder and used in treatments for ailments ranging from asthma to impotence. They're also traded as dried souvenirs or live animals for aquariums. Demand for them has proven difficult to regulate. Related Italian butterfly thieves handed highest-ever fine for wildlife crime in Sri Lanka Conflict between humans and Zimbabwe's 100,000 elephants is growing. Could this new tech help? International trade in seahorses is legal under the CITES treaty – an agreement recognised by 184 countries, including the whole of the EU. But it is only allowed if permits prove that exporting them won't harm wild populations. In practice, those permits are hard to secure. That's pushed the trade underground, where traffickers exploit weak enforcement and shifting trade routes, according to the researchers. 'The trade routes appear to be diversifying, and so must enforcement efforts,' says Syd Ascione, a research biologist at Project Seahorse. Seahorses are often seized alongside other trafficked items like pangolin scales and elephant ivory. It shows how deeply marine species are entangled in the global wildlife crime economy – a trade worth up to €20 billion annually, according to Interpol. In February, a global wildlife trafficking crackdown saw 20,000 live animals seized, from tiger cubs to songbirds. In Europe, smugglers have previously been caught transporting reptiles under their clothes. And in April, two Belgian teenagers found trafficking 5,000 ants were fined €6,775 or given the option of serving 12 months in prison by a court in Kenya for violating wildlife conservation laws. A 2024 UN report found that more than 4,000 species are affected by wildlife trafficking, driving some rare species to extinction. Still, marine species tend to receive less attention – and less protection – than their more charismatic land-dwelling counterparts, according to the UN. But their quiet disappearance affects everything from coral habitats to the livelihoods of coastal communities that depend on the sea for food or commerce. Controlling the trade has also proven difficult. They can be a valuable income source for fishers, Foster says, and there are gaps in enforcement. The study found recorded values for seized seahorses in only 34 cases, but was able to estimate an average price of about €4.50 per animal – a low number but one that adds up quickly when trafficked in bulk. Related 'Road rage' in paradise: Traffic noise is changing how birds in the Galápagos behave Scientists find traces of cocaine in sharks caught off the coast of Brazil. How did it get there? While airports are common seizure points for trafficked seahorses, the largest volumes are found in sea cargo, a frequently overlooked transport method. Of the 300 cases the group examined, only seven per cent included information about legal penalties. That raises questions about how often traffickers are prosecuted and whether current penalties are enough to slow their trade. 'All countries must step up with strong deterrents – good detective work, determined enforcement and meaningful penalties,' says Dr Teale Phelps Bondaroff of OceansAsia, the study's senior author. At the same time, Foster adds, there's a need to support sustainable alternatives. Those efforts start with bringing the legal seahorse trade into the light to protect their populations, perhaps providing a blueprint for better marine conservation everywhere. 'When we ask [traditional medicine traders in Hong Kong], 'How long do you want seahorses around?', they say 'Forever, they're really important!'' she says. 'And we agree.'
Euronews
3 days ago
- Euronews
Millions of seahorses vanish into the illegal wildlife trade each year
Close to five million smuggled seahorses, worth an estimated €18.5 million, were seized over the past decade. It is a staggering number that researchers say still underrepresents the true scale of the illegal trade. A new study published in Conservation Biology examined global wildlife seizure data from 2010 to 2021 and discovered that seahorses – either dead and dried or alive – were most often found hidden in luggage or shipped by sea cargo across 62 countries. The majority were bound for traditional medicine markets in Asia. But those aren't the only markets anymore. The researchers discovered that Europe and Latin America are increasingly showing up in trafficking routes, too. 'The nearly 300 seizures we analysed were based only on online records and voluntary disclosures including government notices and news stories,' says Dr Sarah Foster, a research associate at the University of British Columbia's Project Seahorse and the study's lead author. 'What we're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.' Seahorses have long been prized in traditional medicine, especially in China and Hong Kong, where they're dried, ground into powder and used in treatments for ailments ranging from asthma to impotence. They're also traded as dried souvenirs or live animals for aquariums. Demand for them has proven difficult to regulate. International trade in seahorses is legal under the CITES treaty – an agreement recognised by 184 countries, including the whole of the EU. But it is only allowed if permits prove that exporting them won't harm wild populations. In practice, those permits are hard to secure. That's pushed the trade underground, where traffickers exploit weak enforcement and shifting trade routes, according to the researchers. 'The trade routes appear to be diversifying, and so must enforcement efforts,' says Syd Ascione, a research biologist at Project Seahorse. Seahorses are often seized alongside other trafficked items like pangolin scales and elephant ivory. It shows how deeply marine species are entangled in the global wildlife crime economy – a trade worth up to €20 billion annually, according to Interpol. In February, a global wildlife traffickingcrackdown saw 20,000 live animals seized, from tiger cubs to songbirds. In Europe, smugglers have previously been caught transporting reptiles under their clothes. And in April, two Belgian teenagers found trafficking 5,000 ants were fined €6,775 or given the option of serving 12 months in prison by a court in Kenya for violating wildlife conservation laws. A 2024 UN report found that more than4,000 species are affected by wildlife trafficking, driving some rare species to extinction. Still, marine species tend to receive less attention – and less protection – than their more charismatic land-dwelling counterparts, according to the UN. But their quiet disappearance affects everything from coral habitats to the livelihoods of coastal communities that depend on the sea for food or commerce. Controlling the trade has also proven difficult. They can be a valuable income source for fishers, Foster says, and there are gaps in enforcement. The study found recorded values for seized seahorses in only 34 cases, but was able to estimate an average price of about €4.50 per animal – a low number but one that adds up quickly when trafficked in bulk. While airports are common seizure points for trafficked seahorses, the largest volumes are found in sea cargo, a frequently overlooked transport method. Of the 300 cases the group examined, only seven per cent included information about legal penalties. That raises questions about how often traffickers are prosecuted and whether current penalties are enough to slow their trade. 'All countries must step up with strong deterrents – good detective work, determined enforcement and meaningful penalties,' says Dr Teale Phelps Bondaroff of OceansAsia, the study's senior author. At the same time, Foster adds, there's a need to support sustainable alternatives. Those efforts start with bringing the legal seahorse trade into the light to protect their populations, perhaps providing a blueprint for better marine conservation everywhere. 'When we ask [traditional medicine traders in Hong Kong], 'How long do you want seahorses around?', they say 'Forever, they're really important!'' she says. 'And we agree.' From the vivid red of a parrot's feather to the dreamy blues and purples of Indigo plants, nature is a riot of colour. It has a spectrum to satisfy even the most fashion-forward of humans, so what if there were a way to naturally copy all of these hues? That's precisely what UK-based company Colorifix is working on: a fabric-dyeing process that uses the DNA codes for colours found in nature and teaches microbes to recreate them. Founders Orr Yarkoni and Jim Ajioka were motivated by a research trip to Nepal in 2013, where they saw the toxic impact of chemically synthesised dyes on Kathmandu's rivers. A decade later, Colorfix won recognition as a 2023 finalist for The Earthshot Prize - the global environmental award created by Britain's Prince William. We caught up with the company to find out more about the waste-cutting solution and what they've achieved since stepping into the global spotlight. Before the 19th century, fabric dyes were derived from natural plants and crops, and colourful clothing was considered a luxury. Colorifix is 'bringing the fashion industry back to its roots', in the words of CEO Yarkoni - but with a 21st century set of tools to unlock new pigments. It begins by identifying an interesting colour created naturally by an animal, plant or microbe. By searching public databases, scientists find the 'instructions' for making that colour in the organism's DNA code. They then insert that code into bioengineered microbes like yeast, which are fed with sugar and nitrogen in bioreactors, similar to the way beer is brewed. Over time, these 'microscopic colour factories' can create hundreds to thousands of litres of dye. Finally, the contents of the fermentor are pumped into standard dye machines along with the yarn, fabric, or garment to be dyed. 'Support from The Earthshot Prize not only validates the impact of our solution but also connects us with the network needed for this crucial next phase,' says Andreas Andren, head of business development at Colorifix. Finalists - there are 15 each year, across five categories - join the Prize's 12-month accelerator programme, which includes connections to investors and help to overcome hurdles. 'Biotech is great, but overall expensive to run and scale,' explains Andren. 'Part of the innovation we had to put into play was hardware to make biotechnology scaling competitive with commodity chemical manufacturing. 'Having to solve that problem on top of developing our core technology - the actual dyeing - was definitely the biggest challenge.' Colorfix's solution makes for an interesting intellectual property (IP) case. Patenting organisms that have been recreated using DNA technology is tricky, so the company has instead patented its process of producing, depositing and fixing dye on fabric. 'To reap all the benefits of our technology, such as flexibility and cost parity, a dye house will need to install our proprietary bioreactors on-site,' Andren says. Is the company coming up against incumbents in the industry? 'We are getting more attention from synthetic chemical manufacturers,' he says. 'Some good, some not so good; but the fact that they are starting to pay attention is definitely a sign we are on the right track.' Colorifix has operational capacity in Europe and South America - spread out across several manufacturers - and is aiming to be operational in South Asia within a year. It has partnered with fashion brands like Pangaia and Vollebak to bring products dyed with its technology to market and start increasing demand for sustainable dyes throughout the supply chain. There are other 'big names in the pipeline,' says Andren - but the company is keeping its cards close to its chest for now. The same goes for the new colours it is cooking up. However, he reveals, they successfully dyed greens and oranges during the first part of the year. And the team are extending their application to new materials, including Spiber, made of spider silk protein, and Circulose, an alternative cellulose pulp. New colours will join Colorifix's primary palette of three pigments: one detected in Indigo plants; another, Blushing Rose, made by underwater bacteria; and a third bacteria-born pigment found in soil and deep-sea sediments, named Sunlit Sand. Colouring our clothes with these natural dyes would represent huge progress for an industry that is currently polluting and colouring nature - like Tanzania's Msimbazi River - with chemicals. Colorifix's natural dyes cut chemical pollution by 80 per cent and, when applied to fabrics, they require far fewer rinses than synthetic dyes, ultimately saving vast quantities of water.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Hindustan Times
52 exotic reptiles seized from passenger arriving from Bangkok
MUMBAI: The Mumbai Customs Department intercepted an Indian passenger at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Saturday for allegedly smuggling a large number of exotic reptiles and turtles into the country. The forest department had informed the Customs officials about the alleged smuggler on Saturday. The accused arrived from Bangkok in Thai Airways and was intercepted based on his suspicious behaviour and the description provided in the tip-off. Officials checked his baggage and found three spider-tailed horned vipers (pseudocerastes urarachnoides), five Asian leaf turtles (cyclemys dentata), and 44 Indonesian pit vipers (trimeresurus insularis), out of which one had died. The snakes are both listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora as species not currently threatened with extinction but could become so if their trade is not strictly regulated. It is also listed under Schedule IV of the newly amended Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, indicating they are less endangered from trading and hunting. Pit vipers are not listed under CITES, as per a statement by Customs. Yogesh Varkad, deputy director of the wildlife crime control bureau, said the accused passenger, Mohammed Hanif Shahul, was arrested at the airport under the provisions of the Customs Act 1962. Further investigation is going on. The seized animals will be kept in Byculla Zoo till their deportation. 'It was a violation of CITES and import policy, as import of live animals requires a license from the director general of foreign trade,' Varkad said. Since all the three species are not indigenous in nature, it was suggested that on completion of the Customs procedures and formalities, all 51 live reptiles and turtles, should be deported back to the origin country, said Varkad. The Customs officials conducted a panchnama of the recovered exotic reptiles and registered a case. Earlier, in February, the Mumbai customs had arrested a Chennai resident at CSMIA, after he arrived from Kuala Lumpur, based on profiling. During the search, five baby Siamang Gibbon (symphalangus syndactylus) were found in his possession. The animal is listed in Appendix 1 of CITES, indicating they are threatened with extinction, and Schedule IV of the newly amended Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. All five Siamang Gibbons were ingeniously concealed inside plastic cages and carried by the passenger inside trolley bags.
