A municipal criminal judge with duties of control of guarantees in Quindio released a man who was captured on April 14 with 2,074 turtles in his possession.
According to information from local media, the judge's decision was recorded because the crime that was charged to the citizen does not generate a sentence longer than four years in prison, so he is released from prison.
Likewise, it was known that the hearing for the request for an assurance measure was not held because, according to information from the Chronicle of Quindio, it was not requested.
The judge, for his part, specified that the citizen must respond to the process when requested by the authorities.
It is worth recalling that last Thursday, April 14, in the middle of Holy Week, the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Quindio (CRQ) confirmed that the detention of a citizen who had 2,047 turtles on the road between Bosconia (César) and Tuluá (Valle del Cauca).
The man was transporting the specimens on a public transport bus and was caught for the crime of wildlife trafficking.
José Manuel Cortés Orozco, director of the CRQ, commented that the animals were turtles (trachemys callirostris) and that prosecuting the citizen “was the result of one of the checkpoints that our highway police have and that thanks to the coordination with the Environmental Police and the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Quindio we achieved the seizure of these individuals of wildlife.”
It should be recalled that the CRQ had already warned that the hocotea turtle is still consumed during Easter and that is why it has a higher risk of being trafficked in that season. In fact, the Humboldt Institute pointed out that trachemys callirostris is one of the most trafficked animals along with the morrocoy turtle and the green iguana.
Illegal wildlife trade moves between 20 and 40 billion euros a year
During the Second High-Level Conference of the Americas on the Illegal Trade in Wildlife, held in the department of Bolivar on April 6, the importance of advancing concrete actions to address wildlife trafficking was highlighted. The event was attended by the United Kingdom and different Latin American countries together with the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Carlos Eduardo Correa.
“The illegal trade in wildlife moves, annually, between 20 and 40 billion euros globally. This is one of the most profitable businesses on the planet and much of that wildlife traffic goes from our countries,” Correa said. The head of environmental portfolio called for action to address this scourge that today affects the planet's biodiversity.
Colombia has two tools to combat the illegal trade in wildlife and curb the loss of biodiversity: the Environmental Crimes Act, which criminalizes this crime with up to 12 years in prison, and Law 2153 of 2021, which created the Information, Registration and Monitoring System, which allows to control, prevent and prevent illegal wildlife trafficking and wild flora in Colombia.
According to the Ministry of Environment, in 2021, 18,636 individuals of fauna and 282,147 of flora were seized, representing 2,325 captures. The departments in which this illegal practice occurred the most were Cundinamarca, Santander, Cordoba, Antioquia, Sucre, Bolívar and Atlántico.
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