Man arrested for selling smuggled reptiles from hotel room pet shop
 |
A man has been arrested after allegedly running a ‘pop-up’ pet shop selling reptiles from his hotel room.
A police raid in Essen, Germany recovered more than 130 protected species of chameleons, geckos, salamanders, tortoises and toads.
Within a day of the raid, the haul grew after one of the salamanders gave birth to nine babies.
The unnamed man, from Ukraine, said he had built up the collection by purchasing them online.
He allegedly kept in touch with customers by sending out a newsletter.
However, police said he needed a special licence to sell any of the animals.
A spokesman for the German customs officials said all of the recovered animals were endangered species, and that the they had a value of at least €30,000 (£21,827).
The collection was broken up and distributed among zoos in Dortmund, Duisburg, Cologne and Dusseldorf where they are set to be well looked after under more suitable conditions.
A legal case has also been ordered against the man over illegal trafficking in animals.
|
|
