The lawyer told about the tricks of animal smugglers

Shadow trafficking of derivatives (animal parts) and rare species is a lucrative illegal business. This was stated by Anastasia Fedyunina, chairman of the Zooprovo Association, in a conversation with Izvestia on April 15. In her opinion, the scale of illegal wildlife trade in Russia is underestimated.

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"Batches of derivatives of several dozen units are not a souvenir, but a high—margin business," the source said.

Even if the non-declaration clause is formally applied, when confirming that the withdrawn species belong to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the case may be reclassified to criminal article 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, the violator faces not a fine, but a real term, she warned.

"The phrase "I did not know about the declaration" does not work in court, especially when a person is carrying dozens of fangs and horns through the "green" corridor," said Fedyunina.

For any CITES facilities, a written declaration and permits are required, the lawyer reminded. The law does not make exceptions for "collectors" and "owners from Tashkent."

Read more in the Izvestia article:

Business on bones: why Russians illegally export animal remains from the country

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