Professional criminals made millions and millions by smuggling rare birds. The cobra overpowered one of the masterminds.
It was a luxury gold mine for the smugglers, a hell for the birds stolen from their habitat and a disaster for nature. For for years a great and sophisticated smuggling ring plundered the wilderness. According to the British research platform OCCRP, speedboats, helicopters and vehicles were deployed over land.
An army of smugglers was recruited for this, and they were richly paid. They were awarded €50,000 for each transport of the creatures, most of which had been stolen from the rainforests, if they brought their live prey to the EU via complicated routes. Local authorities revealed that the heads of the animal mafia had made an annual profit of 30 million euros.
Laptop helped with lighting
We have our elite unit Cobra to thank for stopping the eco-criminals. Because they had followed in the footsteps of one of the gang leaders, who traveled in a rented Audi A4 from Vienna to his Ukrainian homeland and crammed twelve birds of paradise and two palm cockatoos into tight cages in the trunk. The laptop of suspect Stanislavas H. seized in Eastern Austria turned out to be a direct hit. Because the dirty trade and the smuggling spider web that stretched across South America to Australia and Asia were mentioned in detail.
Hundreds of private collectors were also listed. Shockingly, even alleged species conservation centers had in some cases deliberately acquired the endangered species. With fake rings on the delicate legs, it was pretended that the exotics came from legal cultivation. Many others had previously died in agony in transit.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
