Maltese national found transporting 300 turtles and 77 parrots in Sicily.Italian customs officers and financial police have seized 377 live exotic animals from a car at the Sicilian port of Pozzallo, authorities said on Monday.The animals, 300 freshwater turtles and 77 parrots, were being illegally transported by a Maltese national who was preparing to board a catamaran to Malta when he was stopped.Officers from the customs agency and the Guardia di Finanza found the animals in a car that had neither enough space nor a proper temperature-control system, authorities said. #GdiF #Ragusa in collaborazione con @AdmGov sequestrati 377 animali esotici occultati in un’autovettura al porto di Pozzallo, 76 dei quali appartenenti a specie tutelate dalla Convenzione di Washington. #NoiconVoi #cittadinoinformato #informareperconoscere https://t.co/yI4hrbvNZi — Guardia di Finanza (@GDF) October 5, 2026 Almost all of the parrots belong to species protected under the Washington Convention (CITES), the 1973 international treaty regulating trade in endangered animals and plants, according to ANSA news agency. The man did not have the CITES documentation required to transport them.The animals would have fetched around €100,000 if sold, ANSA reported.The man was not arrested but was formally reported to prosecutors. He is accused of keeping the animals in conditions that caused them serious suffering.The Riesame court in Ragusa, which reviews seizure orders, rejected a request to have the animals returned. They have been placed in the care of an amateur breeding facility until they can be moved to suitable premises.Italy is a major transit point for the illegal trade in exotic animals, which is often run by organised crime.

Italian customs officers and financial police have seized 377 live exotic animals from a car at the Sicilian port of Pozzallo, authorities said on Monday. The animals, 300 freshwater turtles and 77 parrots, were being illegally transported by a Maltese national who was preparing to board a catamaran to Malta when he was stopped.

Officers from the customs agency and the Guardia di Finanza found the animals in a car that had neither enough space nor a proper temperature-control system, authorities said. #GdiF #Ragusa in collaborazione con @AdmGov sequestrati 377 animali esotici occultati in un’autovettura al porto di Pozzallo, 76 dei quali appartenenti a specie tutelate dalla Convenzione di Washington. #NoiconVoi #cittadinoinformato #informareperconoscere https://t.co/yI4hrbvNZi — Guardia di Finanza (@GDF)
Almost all of the parrots belong to species protected under the Washington Convention (CITES), the 1973 international treaty regulating trade in endangered animals and plants, according to ANSA news agency. The man did not have the CITES documentation required to transport them.

The animals would have fetched around €100,000 if sold, ANSA reported.

The man was not arrested but was formally reported to prosecutors. He is accused of keeping the animals in conditions that caused them serious suffering.

The Riesame court in Ragusa, which reviews seizure orders, rejected a request to have the animals returned. They have been placed in the care of an amateur breeding facility until they can be moved to suitable premises.

Italy is a major transit point for the illegal trade in exotic animals, which is often run by organised crime.