They certainly weren't expecting that. As part of an arrest, linked to an attempted theft, police officers discovered, Friday April 12 in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), several birds belonging to “protected species” or “threatened with extinction”, illegally detained , the city’s prosecutor’s office informed Le Parisien.
That day, as part of the “place net” operation in Toulouse, aimed at dismantling drug trafficking, members of the national police went to the Auriacombe district. They must arrest a man, suspected of attempted theft, who lives at his father's home.
Birds being identified
But inside the apartment, the police came across three cages, closing birds "belonging to species protected" by the Washington Convention and European regulations, according to the Toulouse public prosecutor's office.
Among the birds found was “a specimen of sun conure, ringed and reported stolen”, specifies the prosecution. A species considered “in danger of extinction” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the red list of threatened species.
A specimen of the “goldfinch”, a species classified as “vulnerable” by the IUCN. Five other “mule-type hybrid” birds are being identified, adds the prosecution.
An offense punishable by three years in prison
The father, who admitted possession of the birds, was arrested and placed in police custody. The birds were seized and entrusted to the French Biodiversity Office (OFB) to be examined and identified.
The possession and marketing of protected species are offenses punishable by three years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros.
At the end of his hearing, the accused was released pending "the conclusions of the OFB and the hearing of the victim of the theft of the sun conure", specified the Toulouse public prosecutor's office, which opened an investigation to determine the conditions for acquiring these protected animals.