Two Arrested for Smuggling Jaguar Skins into U.S. from Mexico
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida has announced that an indictment was unsealed as a result of the arrest of Elias Garcia and Maria Plancarte for crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. to illegally sell jaguar skins. According to the indictment, Garcia and Plancarte offered to sell jaguar skins to potential customers in person in Texas and by electronic means elsewhere. Additionally, the defendants made repeated road trips to South Florida, carrying jaguar skins to sell to Florida customers.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
If convicted, the defendants each face a possible term of imprisonment of up to five years in jail on the conspiracy count, and up to one year on the two counts charging violations of the Endangered Species Act, which makes it unlawful among other things, to deliver, carry, transport, ship, sell, or offer for sale any species of wildlife, or the dead body or parts thereof, protected under the Act. The jaguar is listed as an “Endangered Species” under the Act, and is subject to certain prohibitions.