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A man arrested in the port of Valencia who was transporting ten turtles of an endangered species in his vehicle

A joint operation by the Tax Agency and the Guardia Civil

  • The arrest occurred after the search carried out during the disembarkation of a ship from Mostaganem (Algeria) in one of the port's terminals.

February 28, 2023 .- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency and agents from the Civil Guard, in a joint operation, have detained a man in the port of Valencia who was transporting ten turtles of the 'Testudo Graeca' species in his vehicle when he tried to introduce them into our country.

The events took place on February 13 when Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency and agents from the Civil Guard of Valencia, while carrying out border surveillance tasks, deployed a passenger and merchandise verification point in one of the port terminals.

During the disembarkation of a ship from Mostaganem (Algeria), investigators identified an Algerian citizen, who told the agents that he had nothing to declare.

After searching his belongings and the vehicle in which he was traveling, it was possible to locate a cardboard box containing ten 'Testudo Graeca' tortoises, a species included in the IUCN Red List of species threatened with extinction, like all those of the genus 'Testudo'.

The detainee, a 70-year-old man of Algerian nationality, is charged with the crime of illegal trafficking of protected or endangered species.

The proceedings have been delivered to the Court of First Instance and Instruction Number 18 of Valencia.