Texas officials joined the federal officials the ‘Wild Web’ operation on Thursday which led to the issuance of a number of arrest warrants.
The move was aimed to crack down illegal wildlife trafficking done over the web which involves several Texas tortoises that are endangered, piranhas, freshwater stingrays, snakes, and animal skins or pelts from zebra and the snow-leopard.
Grahame Jones, the law enforcing special operations chief of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, was proud with the way Texas had taken its stand on online wildlife trafficking. Carrying a record of 51 charged state and federal cases, it is now considered as the nation’s leader when it comes to thwarting illegal online trafficking. A huge percentage of these arrests were made around the areas of Fort Worth and Dallas.
Captain Greg Wiliford of the aforementioned Parks and Wildlife Department had disclosed that officials were able to secure a wide variety of animals and assorted samples of mounts and pelts. Somehow, there were several species of freshwater stingrays that have been collected and in turn pose risks to the local lakes in the area soon after they are released. Aside from affecting the water supply, these species can create an impact to the area’s biological diversity.
An undercover operation had been initiated by the anti-trafficking drive in which they formed three teams consisting of 30 game wardens of the state and agents from the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. The teams focused their operation on areas along Houston, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth. Wildlife protection agents from the other 15 states such as Washington, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Oregon, South Dakota, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Kansas, and Oklahoma have also contributed to the nation’s drive in shutting down the animal trade over the Internet.
Sellers of the illegal animal trade have been using popular Internet selling sites in their operation. These include sites such as eBay and Craigslist. The anti-wildlife trafficking move aims to inform the public that the Internet should not be used as an open marketplace of protected and enlisted commodities. The illegal trade had been a very lucrative business which has generated a total profit of $19 billion within a year.
