Sea Turtle Investigation Nets Award

March 17th, 2010
By Tracy Russo

The Department of Justice, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was recognized this week with the Animal Welfare Institute’s Clark R. Bavin Law Enforcement Award for its successful work uncovering and prosecuting four sea turtle smuggling rings that were operating full-scale supply networks in Mexico and China with Operation Central.

Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said:

“This award appropriately recognizes the talented and dedicated prosecutors in the Environmental Crimes Section, who worked tirelessly to break up these international smuggling rings. Let there be no doubt: the United States is not a safe-market for illegal wildlife products. We will continue to work with our allies around the world to stop the destructive practice of illegal wildlife smuggling.”

Operation Central uncovered four sea turtle smuggling rings – two based in Mexico and two in China – engaged in illegal trafficking in endangered and threatened sea turtles and other protected species, and products made from their parts. The investigation and prosecution stands as the largest probe ever of the black market exploitation of highly endangered sea turtles.

Several of the sea turtle species illegally traded nest solely in Mexican waters, and this illegal trade had a significant impact on populations of these species. The market value of the wildlife parts and products at issue was estimated at well over $1 million.

The complex multi-year investigation, led by the Environment and Natural Resources Division, resulted in 12 individuals being charged with more than 50 counts of conspiracy, smuggling, and money-laundering. The investigation included innumerable hours coordinating and supervising both the collection and translation of tape-recorded and electronic evidence, and the simultaneous take-down of the charged defendants in different jurisdictions. It also included the preparation and execution of eight search warrants in five different states, and the simultaneous arrest of eight of the charged individuals, six of whom were lured to the United States from Mexico and China. Through their diplomacy, the prosecution team also garnered the cooperation of the Mexican government in coordinating a simultaneous take-down in Mexico of other Mexican nationals suspected of engaging in similar conduct.

All of the defendants lured to, or arrested in, the United States pleaded guilty and were sentenced. This effort curtailed illegal trade in a significant population of endangered sea turtles and other wildlife, and forged a cooperative and successful relationship with Mexican law enforcement authorities engaged in wildlife protection. The case was handled jointly with the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Colorado.

The Clark R. Bavin Law Enforcement award is named after the late Chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement. For more information about the United States Delegation to the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), visit uscites.gov