Man Accused of Smuggling Birds from Cuba

Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

[Now HERE'S a louse we'd love to see sent to go fight in
Talibanistan.... as one of the ill-fated ground troops the
US keeps threatening to send it... real soon now. ]


source - JosePertierra@aol.com

Man Accused of Smuggling Birds

The Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) - A man is accused of smuggling 44 birds, including
Cuban finches popular as pet songbirds, by strapping them to his body
for a charter flight from Havana.

Carlos Rodriguez Avila of Miami was released Thursday on $50,000 bond
after he was charged with lying on a customs declaration by denying
he was bringing any wildlife into the United States.

Suspicious airport inspectors asked Rodriguez to raise his pant legs
and saw something strapped to his legs when he arrived in Miami on
Wednesday, officials said. A final count of 44 birds included some
Cuban melodious finches.

The species is not endangered in its home range but is easily
stressed by capture and smuggling, U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent John
Rawls wrote in an affidavit.

Cuban finches are popular as pets for their singing and could easily
be sold as pets in South Florida, he said.

An international treaty requires an export permit to remove the birds
from Cuba, and U.S. regulations require them to be quarantined on
arrival to check for disease.

Males have black faces nearly surrounded by a bright yellow band. The
rest of the body is yellow-green, black and gray. Adults are about 4
inches long.

AP-NY-11-02-01 2322EST
 
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