Bird smugglers fined R18 000 each

TERRY HUTSON FOR THE master and two of his crew, as well as a Durban ship’s agent and his twin brother, there was little to chirp about last week (May11) when they made an appearance in the Durban magistrates court on a charge of smuggling exotic wildlife through the port. Their arrest followed a raid on the Safmarine general cargo ship Safmarine Meroula at the weekend by KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife inspectors, which netted six smuggled African Grey parrots. The five were found guilty of having smuggled the six parrots into Durban from a port in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The ship’s master, Ukrainian Valeriy Verkhoshansky, the Durban ship’s agent and his twin businessman brother were each fined R18000 and given a suspended sentence of two years in jail. Two seamen on board the Meroula were fined R12000 with two-year suspended sentences. According to wildlife experts thousands of African Grey parrots and other wildlife are smuggled into Europe, Asia and North America each year.