Protected species that have no place in France, let alone in private homes… Seven men were tried on Thursday by the Strasbourg Criminal Court for having illegally acquired and raised all sorts of animals. Some had taken them from their natural environment.
The investigation began in Guyana in September 2022, when customs intercepted packages heading to mainland France. Inside, tarantulas, scorpions, arthropods and centipedes, some of which were dangerous. These animals had been illegally taken from Guyana during a trip made by three defendants, who had sent them by post to relatives living in Haut-Rhin.
The investigation resulted in the police custody of several people in April 2024 and 14 searches carried out in different locations across France.
In total, 97 tarantulas, 1,000 black widows with potentially deadly venom, as well as reptiles (five boas, four pythons), 22 scorpions, turtles and two poison dart frogs, the prosecutor’s office said in April.
Of the seven men who began appearing in court on Thursday, only one had the prefectural authorization and the certificate of capacity necessary for breeding non-domestic animals. This Colmar man is being prosecuted in particular for “irregular collection of non-domestic animals” and “endangering others” by sending them by parcel to mainland France.
“People who know what they are doing”
“I gave in to temptation,” admitted to the audience this specialist whose father was himself passionate about spiders. “During our walks, we picked up spiders. I bought some too,” he recounted about the trip to Guyana made in September 2022 with two friends. In addition to the spiders sent by parcel, he explains that he brought back a tarantula in his luggage.
During a search of his home, 32 Leblond’s tarantulas were found, as well as three Hermann’s tortoises in his garden and a leopard tortoise in his living room.
An agent from the French Biodiversity Office explained at the hearing on Thursday that animals of “no legal origin” had been found, although traceability was “mandatory”.
“We are dealing with people who travel, who collect from the natural environment, who are also collectors… These are people who know what they are doing,” he described, regretting that in Guyana, “on certain popular trails, in terms of biodiversity, it has really fallen.”
The Stéphane Lamart association “For the defense of animals” and the Alsace nature association were civil parties.
An eight-month suspended prison sentence has been requested against the main defendant, reports France Blue AlsaceTwo of his travelling companions in Guyana are threatened with four and six months suspended sentences, compared to three for another and a fine of 1,000 for three other defendants.