Luis Joel Vargas Martell (Vargas) was the co-owner of a home-based saltwater aquarium business, Carebbean Reefers (spelling error intentional) that also operated online through the EBay store “Redragon1975”. A large part of the business was devoted to the sale of native Puerto Rican marine species that are popular in the saltwater aquarium trade.
On Monday, he pleads guilty to export smuggling and two felony violations of the Lacey Act for collecting, purchasing, falsely labeling, and shipping protected marine invertebrate species as part of an effort to subvert Puerto Rican law designed to protect corals and other reef species, the Department of Justice announced.
Luis Vargas collected the popular genusRicordeaand sent that genus to customers in the United States waiting for the live specimens. The Department of Justice correctly points out that reef aquarium keepers like the “glow” under the “UV lights” that are typically used in high-end saltwater reef aquariums. However, we do not like illegally collected corals from protected reef environments. In Puerto Rico, it is illegal to harvestRicordea,zoanthids, and anemones specimens if they are going to be sent off-island or otherwise sold commercially, nor is there a permit available to do so.
为了掩盖其货物的性质并避免从政府检查当局侦查,该计划包括错误地将许多现场货物标记为无生命的物体。从2014年1月到2016年3月,瓦尔加斯(Vargas)发送或导致至少40次在波多黎各水域非法收获的海洋物种。虽然价格有些变化Ricordeadepending on coloration, size, and other factors, the aggregate retail value of illegalRicordeashipped by Vargas was worth at least $90,000.
Vargas will be sentenced at a future date designated by the court. Torres认罪to similar charges on June 9, 2020. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 8, 2020.
在USFWS检查员的支持下,美国鱼类和野生动物服务局的特别特工和国家海洋和大气管理局对此案进行了研究,作为Rock Bostant和Borinquen Chisel行动的一部分。司法部环境犯罪部门的克里斯托弗·赫尔(Christopher L.