Overview
- The court convicted a 40-year-old man of organized wildlife smuggling and imposed a one year, ten month sentence on probation plus a €7,000 payment to a local animal welfare group, with the judgment not yet final.
- Investigators said the network moved 25 shipments from 2017 to 2023 totaling 27,403 birds, worth about €370,000, while avoiding roughly €98,000 in import taxes and duties.
- The toll was severe as at least 563 protected birds entered without permits, many animals died during transport, and veterinarians found Newcastle disease in seized birds.
- The ring flew wild-caught birds from Guinea, Mali, and the Congo to Serbia, used a rented quarantine site in Belgrade, relied on fake papers that claimed Bulgarian breeding, and paid bribes at an EU border.
- A tip from an Austrian journalist launched the 2023 probe that led to phone taps and a July raid on a hall in Thuringia, yet buyers remain unidentified and two alleged partners died before trial.