For poaching, on Friday, May 9th, the Guarantees Judge of Curuzú Cuatiá, Dr. Martín José Vega, issued a guilty verdict for a full simplified trial presented by the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Dr. Oscar Cañete; in a case initiated last April 30th.
The case was related to poaching of yellow cardinals, a species that is endangered.
This Friday, Dr. Oscar Cañete, in charge of the Rural and Environmental Investigation Prosecutor’s Office of Curuzú Cuatiá, presented a full simplified trial agreement before the Guarantees Judge, in a case initiated last April 30th, in which the defendant was charged with the crime of “hunting prohibited wild animals”.
Where did the incident occur
The case started when, near Curuzú Cuatiá, at the intersection of RP 25 and RN 119, the defendant was transporting in a van of his own, a cage containing one black-hooded red siskin bird and in two other cages, 3 specimens of the yellow cardinal species, which are native birds of the wild fauna hunted, and whose capture and commercialization are prohibited; at which point he was intercepted by the National Gendarmerie personnel, who carried out the procedure, seizing the birds that were in captivity.
This species of yellow cardinal bird (Gubernatrix cristata), of which there are few specimens nationwide, is considered endangered, which is why its hunting is prohibited. During the investigation, all seized cardinals were released by the PRIAR Unit of Curuzú Cuatiá, in the rural area from which they were taken.
How the investigation began
“We received information from the Department of Natural Resources, which requested the collaboration of a section of the National Gendarmerie of Curuzú Cuatiá and we already knew this man’s modus operandi, he had beehives in different fields, so under that pretext, he entered all the fields and had the yellow cardinals hidden. With that warning, we knew the day he would enter, but we didn’t know how many fields he would visit, because he crossed 3 departments in the south of Corrientes. It was a coordinated effort between Natural Resources, the Gendarmerie, and the Rural Police of Corrientes, which informed the route this person was taking,” Dr. Oscar Cañete recounted to Environmental News.
Yellow cardinal, an endangered species[/caption>
How the conviction was reached so quickly
“Corrientes has a fairly modern and agile procedural code in that regard. When caught in flagrante, at that moment, in that place, with the evidence, we have a period of 15 days to issue the conviction and during those days, it can be deprived of liberty,” as also stated to Environmental News.
The hearing and the conviction
During the ratification hearing, the defense led by Dr. Justo Pío Sierra confirmed the agreement reached. Dr. Vega ratified the agreement, after ensuring that the defendant agreed to the poaching freely and voluntarily, understood its terms and consequences, and knew his right to demand the oral trial. Finally, he sentenced the defendant to a penalty of 1 year of probationary prison; and compliance with 2 years of behavioral rules.
A common criminal modality
“It caught our attention because we have many beekeepers from Entre Ríos and 95% of the people who traffic yellow cardinals are from Entre Ríos.
This modality of engaging in beekeeping, leaving the beehives inside the fields and having permission to enter, gives them ease and obliges us to implement an action plan with all the Rural Police commissioners to have stricter control regarding beekeepers,” added Dr. Cañete.
