Key blow to smuggling exotic animals managed by the authorities of Spain. As it announced today (14.04.2025), Spanish police seized 19 feline and two people were arrested as part of an operation to dismantle an exotic smuggling network, including protected species, such as white tigers and pumas.
The couple arrested for smuggling in Spain, He used social media where ads appeared for lumps, hyenas or puma.
A cloudy leopard, one of the rarest feline, with spots reminiscent of clouds, had been costly in 60,000 euros.
According to police, the couple were arrested in Mallorca, Balearic. They had made breeding animals such as desert lynxes or karacal, African wild boars and hybrid species who acquired by crossing exotic animals with household cats.
Officers seized a desert or karakal lynx, which stands out from his pointed ears with the characteristic tufts at the top, two wild creeks that look like small leopards as well as 16 feline hybrids.
#Operationsgc | Two people arrested for selling exotic animals through the Internet
In the registry practiced a Caracal, two servals and 16 felines of different degrees of hybridization have been located.
The detainees sold different species of … pic.twitter.com/SULv0qqihs
— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) April 14, 2025
Authorities estimate that this It is only the “top of the iceberg” of an international circuit of marketing protected speciesfrom white tigers to black panthers, involving breeders, carriers and veterinarians.
“Most of the animals offered for sale came from countries such as Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and were intended for buyers in the European Union,” police said.
Forty Russian, Belarusian and Chinese passports were found and confiscated during the investigation.