International Courant
A New York man was charged by federal prosecutors for allegedly smuggling over $200,000 price of deceased, protected butterflies, together with exceptionally uncommon ones often known as birdwings, into and out of the USA via on-line retailers like eBay and Etsy.
In a press launch, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Brooklyn mentioned that 75-year-old Charles Limmer allegedly trafficked “unlawfully imported wildlife on Web platforms” between October 2022 and September 2023.
Birdwing butterflies, named for his or her massive dimension and birdlike flight, are endangered and guarded butterflies. (Lucas Oleniuk/Toronto Star by way of Getty Photos)
The six-count indictment in opposition to Limmer accuses him of working with abroad collaborators to smuggle some 1,000 bugs, together with a few of the rarest and most endangered moths and butterflies on the earth.
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Prosecutors mentioned that Limmer hid his scheme by directing his co-conspirators to label the shipments of the protected butterflies as “ornamental wall coverings,” “origami paper craft” and “wall decorations.”
The indictment famous that Limmer expressed contempt for the USA Fish and Wildlife Service, saying, “Screw USFWS… They’re a gang of Orangutans.”
This screengrab of the Etsy web page of a vendor going by “LIMMERENTOMOLOGICA” exhibits 4 birdwing specimens at present on sale on-line. (Etsy by way of AP)
Federal legislation prohibits the business export or import of wildlife with out permission from the USFWS. Further authorization would should be secured for endangered species, as a part of a world partnership to guard wildlife from trafficking.
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An eBay web page of a vendor going by “limmerleps” exhibits the account had made extra than 4,600 gross sales on the purchasing platform, most of the most up-to-date gross sales had been moths and butterflies. There have been two birdwing specimens at present on sale and two had been bought over the previous 12 months, in keeping with the web site.
An Etsy web page related to a vendor going by the identify “Limmer” had 4 adverts for birdwings nonetheless marketed on Wednesday, together with that includes a set of 5 specimens with an asking value of $133.
This screengrab of the eBay web page of a vendor going by “limmerleps” exhibits two birdwing specimens at present on sale on-line. (eBay by way of AP)
The 75-year-old’s indictment additionally seeks to drive Limmer to surrender his assortment of over 1,000 butterflies, moths and different bugs that he allegedly illegally trafficked.
If convicted of smuggling, Limmer faces as much as 20 years in jail.
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The Related Press contributed to this report.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a author on the breaking information staff for Fox Information Digital. You possibly can attain her on Twitter at @s_rumpfwhitten.
