Overview
- Albert Bazaar was arrested in Phoenix and ordered detained after a San Francisco grand jury indictment was unsealed on conspiracy and Lacey Act counts.
- The indictment alleges he poached and sold more than 1,700 loggerhead musk turtles, 100 stripe-neck musk turtles, and 15 striped mud turtles in Florida, with shipments bound for Taiwan and worth over $550,000.
- The filing describes eight sales to a San Francisco exporter who, investigators say, funded trips and gear including a boat and a van.
- Prosecutors allege false “captive-bred” declarations were used to secure export permits, violating the Lacey Act, a law that bans trade in wildlife taken in violation of state law or backed by false information.
- A status hearing is set for May 14 in Phoenix as part of a case built by a USFWS-led task force with federal and state partners under Operation Southern Hot Herps.