2023-10-11 20:00:02
NEW YORK (AP) — Butterflies from the papilionidae family are among the rarest and largest that grace the planet, and with their wingspans of up to 25 centimeters (10 inches) they are difficult to miss in the jungles of the Southeast Asia and Australia.
The federal prosecutor’s office in Brooklyn accuses Charles Limmer of earning tens of thousands of dollars a year through the illegal trafficking of flying insects, among which there are endangered species. Their numbers have declined due to habitat disappearance and poaching.
Limmer, 75, is accused of working with collaborators abroad to smuggle some 1,000 lepidopterans, including some of the rarest in the world.
Federal authorities in New York say Limmer, a resident of Long Island, smuggled stuffed specimens of the species under the labels “wall coverings,” “wall decorations” and “origami origami.”
Limmer might not be reached by phone or email.
U.S. law prohibits the commercial export or import of wildlife without permission from the Bureau of Fish and Wildlife. Additional authorization is required when dealing with endangered species, as part of a special anti-trafficking agreement.
Limmer had a federal wildlife import and export license, but it was suspended since October 2022.
Since then, according to the indictment, Limmer imported and exported specimens worth more than $200,000.
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