Sicilian authorities stop Maltese man from illegally smuggling €400,000 worth of protected finches

Updated at 3pm

A Maltese man was caught trying to smuggle almost 2,700 protected birds worth an estimated €400,000 from Sicily to Malta.

Initial reports from the port authorities in Pozzallo revealed officers found 2,687 birds, including goldfinches, greenfinches and chaffinches, packed into cages hidden within cardboard boxes.

The suspect was stopped while attempting to board the ferry bound for Malta.

“The birds were being transported in precarious hygienic and sanitary conditions, with risks to public health,” Sicilian radio station Radio Una Voce Vicina said on Thursday. The container’s temperature had been set at –2°C, a method used to slow the birds’ vital functions and make them harder to detect.

Vets in Sicily said the birds were young and in poor transport conditions, which had shortened their expected lifespan to just two months.

The man has been accused of theft, receiving stolen goods, abandonment of animals, and the killing, destruction, capture, collection and possession of protected species.

Footage released by the Guardia di Finanza shows the birds being freed into the Pantano Cuba-Longarini nature reserve in Granelli, east of Pozzallo.

The finch trapping season in Malta, officially carried out for research purposes, is due to begin in October. However, the practice has drawn criticism from environmental groups and landed Malta in trouble with the European Union.

“The finches project does not establish a genuine research purpose and hence cannot be considered as being justified,” the European Court of Justice said during its ruling on the trapping being illegal in September last year.

BirdLife warns ‘research’ derogation fuels illegal finch trade

In reaction to the case, BirdLife Malta took to Facebook to praise the Italian authorities for the bust, calling it “another dent in the illegal finch trade” between Sicily and Malta. The NGO said the trade supplies birds to be used as live decoys for trapping in autumn.

BirdLife also criticised Malta’s Wild Birds Regulation Unit for recently inviting applications for a “research” derogation on finches, a practice the European Court of Justice has twice ruled illegal. “This hope given to trappers directly fuels the smuggling of protected finches,” said BirdLife’s Head of Conservation Nicholas Barbara.

The public was urged to report any sightings of such sales, warning that another illegal trapping season will likely lead to more smuggling.