In a statement, the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE), through the National Criminal Investigation and Information Unit (UNIIC), seized 14 specimens of six protected species; three specimens of crocodiles of two species, four seahorses, four white corals, a queen shell and two viola mandibles

Various documents were also seized, including two copies of CITES community certificates, on suspicion of forgery, and the action had the collaboration of the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), as an expert.

CITES is an International Agreement to which countries voluntarily adhere, currently involving a total of 183 countries, with the objective of ensuring that the trade in animals and plants does not jeopardize their survival in the wild.

The convention assigns different degrees of protection to around 5,800 species of animals and 33,000 species of plants.

The European Union has more restrictive rules than those of the Convention, governed by a Regulation that distributes species in four annexes.