Officers from the Guardia Civil stopped a vehicle in Cabezas de San Juan (Sevilla) and upon inspecting the car boot found 112 tortoises, one of which was dead.

The creatures were bundled into large, plastic sacks in a deplorable condition and had the police not stopped them, most of them would have died before they reached their destination.

Consequently, the officers alerted their colleagues belonging to Seprona (Environmental Department) in Aznalcóllar to come and take charge of them.

In the meantime, the three occupants of the car would not say where they had obtained them and what they were going to do with them. The tortoises were confiscated and the three men charged.

The confiscated specimens were taken to an animal-health specialist in Jerez who determined what species they were. Seprona is now pressing the Junta de Andalucía to speed up the bureaucracy so that no more tortoises perish over the weekend (when bureaucrats do not work).

The specific name for their species is Mauremys Leprosa, commonly known as the Iberian pond turtle, which are a protected species and it is against the law to capture, possess or sell them. The arrested men all have criminal records.

(News: Cabezas de San Juan, Sevilla, Andalucia)