/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/eluniverso/GCGN4H47YNADRMTFQBVAEIVKR4.jfif "Judge released 3 of the 6 involved in the attempted trafficking of six land iguanas and 85 tortoises in the Galapagos")
A judge in the province of Santa Elena released 3 of the 6 involved in the attempted trafficking of six land iguanas and 85 tortoises in the Galapagos. The species were found on a ship that was checked by National Navy personnel in a routine operation last June.
“The Prosecutor’s Office did not prove that the gentlemen had knowledge of the species in question. It should not have been based on mere assumptions… For what has been said, the precautionary measures are lifted and in view of the fact that they are in pretrial detention, their immediate release is ordered, “says the ruling to which EL UNIVERSO had access.
Protected species detected in a boat that was towed from the Galapagos to Guayaquil
When the suspects were arrested, the Navy stated that the incident “would be involved in transnational organizations dedicated to committing environmental crimes.”
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The boat had departed from Floreana Island on June 20 bound for Guayaquil. The Coast Guard force inspected the ship and found the iguanas and turtles in boxes and jute sacks as she sailed 30 miles offshore at Santa Elena.
Release of ex-policeman sentenced for turtle trafficking in Galapagos is frustrating and inexplicable, says Gustavo Manrique, Minister of the Environment
The trafficking of endemic animals in the Galapagos, that is, they are only found on the islands and nowhere else in the world in the wild, has been reported continuously since 2012. Therefore, environmental organizations not only demand that the penalties for species trafficking but that judges correctly apply the regulations.
In November 2021, former police officer Nixon Alejandro PD, sentenced to three years in prison for attempting to traffic 185 tortoises in the Galapagos Islands, was released. A court of the Guayas Provincial Court of Justice argued that his future in the country’s prisons was “uncertain” due to the riots that have taken place and therefore accepted the appeal. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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