Federal prosecutors in San Diego have charged a man from San Ysidro with attempting to smuggle 14 live toucans across the border while the birds were concealed in his vehicle.
At the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, CBP officials allegedly noticed a bird wrapped in fabric and duct taped to the underside of Carlos Abundez’s Volkswagen Passat’s dash following an alarm from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection canine.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a follow-up examination of the vehicle showed 14 sedated juvenile Keel-billed toucans inside a side panel of the dashboard.
Some of the protected birds, which can sell for up to $5,000 each when sold illegally, had damaged legs and tails, according to the prosecution.
The 35-year-old Abundez appeared in federal court in San Diego for the first time on Wednesday.
This is the fourth lawsuit against individuals accused of trying to transport endangered exotic birds across San Diego border crossings in recent months.
Federal prosecutors in San Diego filed charges against a Mexican national in April for allegedly trying to enter the country through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry while carrying a dozen parakeets in his car seat and boots. Prosecutors claimed that during the purported smuggling incident, the birds were bound at the feet and wrapped in panty hose.
At least two of the 12 protected Orange Fronted Parakeets perished, a third may have had a broken neck, and other birds seemed to be in terrible health, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Then, in May, 17 exotic birds were found in four bags beneath one of the seats of a San Diego man’s automobile as he reportedly tried to enter the San Ysidro Port of Entry with them. Prosecutors said two of those birds died.
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A guy from Tulare County is accused of paying $700 for seven parrots last month and trying to enter the United States through the San Ysidro Port of Entry with the intention of breeding and reselling them. According to the prosecution, the birds were discovered in a cardboard box on the passenger floorboard of his vehicle.
Adam Gordon, the U.S. attorney for San Diego, stated in a statement that it is not only cruel but also illegal to smuggle endangered birds by sedating them, tying their beaks, and concealing them in automobile compartments. A major threat to agriculture and public health is the unsettling trend of exotic wildlife trafficking via ports in Southern California.
