Confiscation of protected species, increasingly frequent at the Mérida Airport

Mérida, Yucatán, (November 13, 2021) .- Francisco Díaz González, commissioner of the Yucatán National Guard, announced which are the most common causes of seizure at the airport, and checkpoints of the National Guard.

In that sense, he said that the seizure of endangered species is more and more frequent, speaking of once or twice a week.

“People cannot confirm or verify the legal origin of resources such as the flora or fauna they transport without the corresponding official documents,” Díaz González said.

He pointed out that if the transfer cannot be verified, if the regulatory papers are not available, in which case, the animal is confiscated and handed over to the relevant authorities in the field of wildlife protection.

“Every week we find one or two species, it varies depending on how they can check when they make a transaction or a sale of something, and they don’t check it at a notary’s office, and the law requires us to specify it,” he continued

The commissioner of the Yucatán National Guard assured that they are isolated events in which people seek to buy a particular species, so there is no specific state where this species trafficking takes place, or a person or group dedicated specifically to this illegal activity.