| US Indicts Tortoise and Iguana Smugglers |
11/4/98: According to a U.S. Department of Justice October 30, 1998 press release, a federal Grand Jury sitting in Miami has returned an 11 Count Indictment charging Dwayne D. Cunningham, 41 of Pembroke Pines, and Patricia E. Cunningham, 35 and Robert A. Lawracy, 32, both of West Palm Beach, Florida with trafficking in protected reptiles in violation of the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and with conspiracy and smuggling.
Dwayne Cunningham is named in seven felony charges and a single misdemeanor; Patricia Cunningham faces four felony charges and a single misdemeanor; and Robert Lawracy faces four felony charges. Lawracy surrendered to federal authorities today. According to statements in Court, arrest warrants are pending against the remaining two defendants.
The Indictment alleges that from 1992 through December 1997, the defendants trafficked in West Indian island reptiles that are protected under CITES, the Convention On International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora. Several CITES Appendix 1 listed Cyclura (ground iguanas), including the Exuma Island and the Virgin Island rock iguanas, and stolen red-footed tortoises, are said to have been smuggled into the Untied States aboard cruise ships touring the Caribbean and the Bahamas that employed Dwayne Cunningham and Lawracy. The red-footed tortoises mentioned above are adult tortoises apparently stolen from the Curacao Zoo in 1995 and smuggled into the United States.
A second part of the indictment centers on the smuggling of highly protected Madagascan Tree Boas, Madagascan Ground Boas, Radiated Tortoises and Spider Tortoises, from Madagascar into Germany, and ultimately into Florida. The Cunninghams are alleged to have been couriers, purchasers and sellers of these reptiles. Other members of this smuggling ring, including several German citizens, have already been indicted.
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