Overview
- Inspectors confiscated specimens including a black bear, lions, apes and protected birds such as birds-of-paradise, vultures and palm cockatoos.
- At a second company site, authorities found dozens of dead animals in a freezer with origins that could not be verified.
- The 24-year-old trader failed to prove legal provenance for the protected species and now faces criminal and administrative proceedings.
- RVO placed the seized items in secret storage to prevent re-entry into illegal markets, with most slated to be destroyed.
- The raids occurred between mid-September and mid-October under Operation Thunder with RVO, NVWA, customs, police and the OM involved, and related seizures were reported in mail, air freight and an Arnhem home.