Tortoise Smuggling & Criminal Law

[gtm]

This is what you can potentially get if you are busted for Tortoise (or any other CITES protected beasty) Smuggling.

Fine of up to £5000 and / or up to 3 months in prison

OR

Fine and / or up to 2 years in prison.

This is an 'either way' offence which means the Magistrates can if they think it's a very bad one pass it up to the Crown Court.

The basic message is that if customs find a couple of baby tortoises in your luggage you'll get fined but if you're caught with a lorry load or are a persistent offender you could go to jail.

Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 1372

It's worth noting that Courts are pretty lenient towards animal related crime so prison or even a large fine is very unlikely except for the worst of the worst.

[Tamie]

Thanks for posting this George.

I doubt it is much of a deterrant to those who do it !

Tamie

[wizzasmum]

Originally Posted by gtm

This is what you can potentially get if you are busted for Tortoise (or any other CITES protected beasty) Smuggling.

Fine of up to £5000 and / or up to 3 months in prison

OR

Fine and / or up to 2 years in prison.

This is an 'either way' offence which means the Magistrates can if they think it's a very bad one pass it up to the Crown Court.

The basic message is that if customs find a couple of baby tortoises in your luggage you'll get fined but if you're caught with a lorry load or are a persistent offender you could go to jail.

Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 1372

It's worth noting that Courts are pretty lenient towards animal related crime so prison or even a large fine is very unlikely except for the worst of the worst.

And some, despite being persistant offenders and having been reported for numerous crimes of similar nature and not being caught for many of them still get away with a finewhen eventually caught and are allowed to continue keeping the same animals - not quite right somehow is it

[gtm]

Originally Posted by Tamie

Thanks for posting this George.

I doubt it is much of a deterrant to those who do it !

Tamie

The problem is 2 fold:-

1) It's laughably easy - one could easily pick up wild tortoises in their ranges in Europe and literally drive them home. I've been over to Europe countless times via the ferry or channel tunnel & have been searched once. Customers simply don't have the man power to scratch the surface & in this day and age are more interested in drugs / explosives. That same applies to a lesser extent with air travel but even there I expect customs only pick up a fraction of the smuggled animal.

2) Sentencing - it's not severe enough to put off the dedicated commercial smuggler & the 1 off impluse smuggler will get a slap on the wrist. I'd like to see the fines increased to at least £10,000 - hit em in the pocket.

[Tamie]

Originally Posted by gtm

The problem is 2 fold:-

1) It's laughably easy - one could easily pick up wild tortoises in their ranges in Europe and literally drive them home. I've been over to Europe countless times via the ferry or channel tunnel & have been searched once. Customers simply don't have the man power to scratch the surface & in this day and age are more interested in drugs / explosives. That same applies to a lesser extent with air travel but even there I expect customs only pick up a fraction of the smuggled animal.

2) Sentencing - it's not severe enough to put off the dedicated commercial smuggler & the 1 off impluse smuggler will get a slap on the wrist. I'd like to see the fines increased to at least £10,000 - hit em in the pocket.

George, have to agree totally. It sickens me that this happens and that the sentencing is not severe enough. Perhaps specially trained 'tort dogs' could be used - my Springers can sniff a tortoise at 100 paces!

Customs do take it seriously though, hundreds have been seized recently at LHR alone, more at Manchester and Edinburgh too. If only we knew how many weren't but sadly we never will.

Tamie

[Richardk]

If it was up to me, I would fine them heavily and confiscate their passports. To hell with their human rights, what about the rights of the animal.

[wizzasmum]

Originally Posted by Richardk

If it was up to me, I would fine them heavily and confiscate their passports. To hell with their human rights, what about the rights of the animal.

Well there is one on here right now advertising holidays with the experts!

[Tortoise Trust]

Quite.

The maximum penalties are a bit tougher in Australia, too.

Andy Highfield
www.tortoisetrust.org

[Athravan]

I have to also question how well trained customs are, I bring a lot of snakes back from the EU and although I have never brought a tortoise back, I know people who bring quite a number of horsefield tortoises back. Customs have never given more than a cursorary glance at reptiles and how many customs officials would be trained to spot a WC CITES restricted animal from an unrestricted horsefields, for example?

Meaning many people, even if caught at the border, could surely claim they had just bought it from a show as a horsefields tortoise and would probably sail straight through anyway.

[wizzasmum]

Originally Posted by Tortoise Trust

Quite.

The maximum penalties are a bit tougher in Australia, too.

Andy Highfield
www.tortoisetrust.org

Of course he was not making money from them though and he surely needed 200 to film on his bench at home - course he did. I heard he also claimed he was saving them from being roadkill - what a nice man - not!