The Italian hunters were on their way out of the country with 2027 frozen thrushes in their luggage, among them several protected species, when they were stopped at the border.
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– This is a very good example of a successful inter-agency action. Here, everyone reacted quickly and we discovered environmental crime and a serious attempt at smuggling. It is not so common that we come across seizures like this. In my 25 years in the Customs Service in Kristiansand, I do not know that we have stopped anyone with so many illegally hunted birds before, says customs inspector Per Otto Smithsen, in a press release.
The hunters had a total of 2027 thrushes in their luggage when they were stopped on October 29. Most were red-winged thrushes and gray thrushes, but there were also 31 black-thrushes and ten target thrushes, which are protected in Norway.
– 41 birds that are protected in Norway were seized. There were 31 black thrushes and 10 target thrushes. All the birds were frozen and were intended to be exported to their own households, the environmental crime coordinator in the Agder police district, Torvild Selås, states in the press release.
It is allowed to hunt red-winged thrushes and gray thrushes in Norway if you have permits in order. Of the three Italian hunters, only one of them had registered in the Hunter Register.
The three hunters were each fined NOK 15,000, which was approved by all.
– This is illegal hunting that we take seriously and we are very happy that the public tipped eco-crime about the hunting team, says environmental crime lawyer and prosecutor Ole Martin Paulsen.
It was Økokrim who first received tips about the illegal bird hunting from the public. They notified both the police in Agder and the Customs, which then went into action together with the Norwegian Environmental Protection Agency.
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