Canje man fined over protected-birds smuggling

Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle fined a US-based man $10,000 after he admitted that he was trying to export 30 protected birds in his hand luggage as he prepared to board a flight at the airport.

Reepdewan Gupta Sukhram, 44, of North Carolina, USA and Betsy Ground, East Canje, Berbice, pleaded guilty to the charge of exporting species of birds requiring protection when it was read to him in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday. In handing down the fine, the magistrate also told Sukhram that he will be disqualified from obtaining a licence for export for one year.

According to the facts of the case Sukhram, on Decem-ber 31, at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri was exporting 28 Towa Towa birds and two Twa Twa birds without obtaining a permit or a certificate from the management authority.

Around 8.30 am police from the narcotics branch searched Sukhram, who was an outgoing passenger on a North American Airlines flight, when the birds were found in boxes and plastic containers in his luggage. He was told of the offence being committed, arrested and later charged.

Sukhram said he is the manager of a sewing factory which makes police, nurse and fire-fighters uniforms. He said 15 minutes before boarding his flight he gave the birds tranquilizers so that they would not make any noise. He said they were discovered when police checked his bag shortly after it had been scanned. Sukhram acknowledged that his wrongdoing, adding that, “This is the first time that I am doing this.”

When the magistrate asked Sukhram why he had all those birds, he told the court that he is a bird lover and he has a huge cage in his garage with seventy-five kinds of birds from all over the world. The only birds he didn’t have, he said, are those from Guyana. “I bought them at $2,500 a piece. They are wild birds from up the Berbice River,” Sukhram added.

Matthews later said that the birds will have to remain in the custody of the State because Sukhram did not have a licence to keep them. However, Suhkram’s attorney Paul Fung-a-Fat said the birds could be returned to his client as he spent a lot of money for them. He said the man is only prohibited from leaving the country with them and it would be unfair not to return them to him, especially since one had died. He said the police do not have a proper facility to accommodate the birds.

The court also heard that the wildlife authority had provided a cage for the birds and at the end of the matter, they could be given to the zoo or they can be set free.

At the end of the arguments, the court said that the section of the Act that deals with enforcement states that the court can order that the birds be confiscated to the State.