Representatives of the airport and the Galapagos National Park (PNG) discovered in a suitcase about 185 turtle specimens that were to be transported from the archipelago to the mainland, the Ecuadorian environment ministry reported on Sunday.
“At #Baltra airport, 185 hatched turtles were detected in a suitcase that was being transferred to mainland Ecuador,” the ministry said on Twitter.
Located 1000 km from the Ecuadorian coast, the Galapagos Islands have unique flora and fauna.
The ministry said the discovery took place “during a routine inspection” between the Galapagos airport and the PNG and that the police and prosecutors “are taking action”, without giving further details.
The Minister of the Environment Marcelo Mata denounced in a tweet “these crimes against the fauna and the natural heritage of Ecuadorians” and said he was convinced that these facts “will be punished with all the rigor provided for by the regulations in force”.
Illegal wildlife trafficking is a crime punishable by one to three years in prison, according to Ecuadorian law.
The archipelago, which served as a natural laboratory for the English scientist Charles Darwin for his theory on the evolution of species, takes its name from the giant tortoises that live there.
The giant tortoises arrived three to four million years ago in this volcanic region of the Pacific.
Scientists believe that ocean currents dispersed the turtles on the islands, giving rise to 15 different species – three of which are now officially extinct – each adapted to its own territory.