An American citizen living in Tijuana who was caught trying to smuggle two parakeets across the border into the U.S. last month was indicted in San Diego last week on federal smuggling charges.
Jesse Agus Martinez, 35, was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers who noticed a suspicious bulge in his pants.
Despite Martinez’s protestations that he was not carrying anything, the officers discovered two sedated orange-fronted parakeets in sacks concealed in his underwear.
The orange-fronted parakeet (Eupsittula canicularis), a protected species of the parrot family (its genus name means good little parrot) and native to Mexico, is listed as “vulnerable” on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
The juvenile birds were “apparently unconscious but breathing,” according to federal prosecutors. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service inspector identified the birds and placed them in a cage with food and water.
The birds were transferred to a Department of Agriculture Animal Import Center in New York for quarantine, and are reported to be in stable condition.
A month before the October incident, Martinez was caught trying to smuggle a parrot across the border. The bird, wrapped in a towel under his arm, was badly injured and was euthanized.
If convicted on the smuggling charges, Martinez faces a fine of up to US $250,000 and could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Trafficking of wild and endangered species is common in Mexico. Earlier this year, a Mexican citizen was arrested while trying to smuggle 12 orange-fronted parakeets into California, some of them in his boots.
An investigation carried out by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2022 found that it is relatively easy to negotiate with traffickers in Mexico, often online. Some willingly offered price quotes, including delivery, “even though [they] acknowledge they don’t have legal documentation for the animals.”
NBC News reported that a vendor in Cuernavaca, about 90 km (56 miles) south of Mexico City, said he could ship orange-fronted parakeets across the border for US $500 each by packaging them in cardboard boxes hidden in the trunk of a car.
The 2022 report noted that the trade in protected species in Mexico is often fatal for the animals. It found that 77% of endangered parrots — roughly 60,000 annually — die before reaching the final consumer.
With reports from NBC News, The New York Times and The Independent
