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San Ysidro man charged with toucan smuggling attempt at border

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SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A San Ysidro man who allegedly tried to smuggle 14 live toucans across the border while the birds were hidden inside his car has been charged by San Diego federal prosecutors.

After an alert from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection canine at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, CBP officers allegedly spotted a bird wrapped in cloth and duct taped to the underside of the dash of Carlos Abundez's Volkswagen Passat.

A subsequent inspection of the car revealed 14 sedated juvenile Keel- billed toucans inside a side panel of the car's dashboard, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said some of the birds, which are protected and can fetch up to $5,000 per bird when illegally sold, had sustained injuries such as broken tails and a broken leg.

Abundez, 35, made his initial appearance in San Diego federal court on Wednesday.

The case is the fourth filed in San Diego in recent months against people allegedly attempting to smuggle protected exotic birds through San Diego border crossings.

In April, San Diego federal prosecutors charged a Mexican citizen who allegedly attempted to cross the border through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry with a dozen parakeets stuffed inside his boots and inside the seat of his car. Prosecutors said the birds were tied at their feet and wrapped in panty hose during the alleged smuggling incident.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, among the 12 protected Orange Fronted Parakeets, at least two of the birds died, a third suffered a possible broken neck, and others appeared in poor health.

Then in May, a San Diego man allegedly attempted to cross through the San Ysidro Port of Entry with 17 exotic birds in his car, which were discovered in four bags underneath one of his vehicle's seats. Two of those birds died, according to prosecutors.

Last month, a Tulare County man allegedly purchased seven parrots for $700 and attempted to bring them into the U.S. through the San Ysidro Port of Entry in order to breed and resell them. The birds were found in a cardboard box on the passenger floorboard of his car, prosecutors said.

San Diego U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement, "Smuggling endangered birds by sedating them, binding their beaks, and hiding them in car compartments is not just cruel -- it's criminal. This disturbing trend of trafficking exotic wildlife through Southern California ports poses a serious threat to public health and agriculture."

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