Trafficking ring involving thousands of turtles uncovered by wildlife officials

Two suspects have been charged for poaching the turtles, most of them native to Florida, and selling them illegally, according to a news release by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Many of the turtles ended up in international markets, including those in Asia, officials said.

The turtles were sold wholesale for up to $300 each and retailed for as much as $10,000 in Asia. In one month alone, an estimated $60,000 worth of turtles were trafficked out of Florida, according to the FWC "Wild turtle populations cannot sustain the level of harvest that took place here," said Dr. Brooke Talley, the Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Coordinator for the FWC."This will likely have consequences for the entire ecosystem and is a detriment for our citizens and future generations."

More than 600 turtles were returned to the wild as a result of the investigation, and about half of those are now part of a long-term monitoring project by the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, which has been conducting research on them for almost 20 years, officials said.

Officer Jim we need you to go undercover Florida Jim: to a cartel in Miami with the hope of getting a huge drug bust? No we got some guys selling some turtles on the black market.

Shit 300 bucks for a turtle. Man I got a few if them in my woods next to my house.

Weeds legal so now this is the next big smuggeling ring

Most likely the Asians ate them

Slow-moving case, huh?

🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬😷

ههههههههه حتى السلاحف ماخلوها بحالها صارت شيء ثمين زمن قاسي :)

Seriously trafficking 🐢 turtles, what the heck were they doing with the 🐢 turtles when they were sold? Seems like an odd thing to be trafficking, were they like exotic🐢 turtles, protected turtles?

If I were gonna sell turtles I would use a shell company.

Turtles lives matter ❤️❤️❤️

Poor babies 😔

Undercover huh? Which one of the turtles is the rat?

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