Isla Mujeres, Q.R. — Police of Isla Mujeres arrested two men Thursday who were found profiting from exotic animals. The arrests were made on the island’s busy Rueda Medina Avenue.
Elements of the Directorate of Public Security and Municipal Transit were on a tour around 2:00 p.m. when they received a request for support from Inspection and Collection.
“At the height of the Ballyhoo restaurant on Rueda Medina Avenue, they had located people profiting from exotic animals on public roads in Playa Centro,” Isla Mujeres Police said.
“Upon arrival at the scene, two males were demanding payment from a family for having been photographed with a green iguana and a Burmese python. When the men were asked for their permits to trade on public roads, they began to disturb public order since they did not have them,” Policía de Isla Mujeres reported in a statement.
Personnel from the Department of Environment and Ecology went to the site to request the documentation for the use of wildlife and the accreditation of legal origin, but neither men had the documentation.
Police proceeced to arrest 22-year-old Fernando “N” and 35-year-old Jesús Ismael.
The Department of Ecology said that both the green iguana and the python were being exposed to high stress due to constant handling, noise and sun exposure, combined with the fact of being locked in small plastic boxes.