Five arresed for smuggling skins of turtles and other protected species

From a story by Eli Stokols on KWGN-TV, DENVER

Five men accused of illegally smuggling the skins of sea turtles and other endangered species from Mexico to the U.S. were arrested Thursday, three of them in Denver. The arrests are the result of a three-year investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its Mexican counterpart, authorities said. Three other suspects, indicted with the others two weeks ago, remain at-large in Mexico.

The suspects face 54 charges for conspiracy, smuggling and money-laundering. They allegedly smuggled roughly 25 separate shipments of wildlife skins and products between Mexico and the U.S. since 2005, when the undercover investigation began. Included in those shipments were more than 700 tanned skins of sea turtle, caiman, python and other protected species.

Sea turtles are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Treaty, of which the U.S. and Mexico are parties along with 170 other countries. Five of the seven species of sea turtles are endangered; a sixth is listed as threatened. All of them are found along Mexico's Pacific coast.

"We're not going to screw around when it comes to protecting illegal species," said Troy Eid, U.S. Attorney for Colorado. "Unfortunately, in some cultures, sea turtles are seen as a sign of virility. But there is absolutely nothing macho about killing an endangered species for greed."