An international trafficking network of European goldfinches was dismantled on Tuesday October 3 in the Paris region, where dozens of birds of this species prized for its plumage and melodious song, but threatened with extinction, were found, investigators announced Wednesday .
“A little less than 350 birds were discovered, including 63 protected specimens whose possession is prohibited (mainly goldfinches, but also specimens of melodious linnet, European greenfinch and cini serin),” specified the French Biodiversity Office (OFB) and the Central Office for Combating Attacks on the Environment and Public Health (OCLAESP) in a press release. The birds “were seized by the authorities, as well as more than 9,000 euros in cash and equipment used to capture birds in the wild,” add the two offices.
These searches, which “made it possible to reveal a clandestine shop”, were carried out on Tuesday “in the close suburbs of Paris in order to dismantle international trafficking in European goldfinches” the first traces of which appeared in 2021 thanks to “checks carried out in the sector of Parisian bird catchers by the OFB and customs”.
The American goldfinch is a small, partially migratory bird, present in our gardens in spring and summer, highly sought after for its song and its bright colors. In the fall, some populations migrate to spend the winter in North Africa. The European goldfinch is endangered in the Maghreb and in sharp decline in mainland France due to poaching and trafficking. Illegal buyers offer “between 150 and 450 euros, depending on the beauty of the plumage and the song,” investigators explained.
The investigation into these suspicions of “organized gang trafficking in protected species” expanded in January 2023, when it was entrusted to an investigating judge of the Paris court, making it possible to deploy means of increased surveillance and to carry out international investigations. No details were provided on the number of suspects arrested.
Criminal sanctions for trafficking in protected species were strengthened in 2016 in France, with maximum penalties of three years in prison, seven for organized gang trafficking. But prison sentences remain rare, the associations regret. In 2022 in Marseille, a seller arrested in a market was sentenced to six months.