Costa Rica News – Turtle egg poachers risk jail time of one to three years.
They are now teaming up with drug traffickers for protection and it is becoming an organized crime like arrangement with people living in barracks and dedicating their lives to poaching.
The poachers are becoming professional criminals, working fast and in an efficient organized manner. They rent vans to transport the stolen eggs and monitor the beach for environmental police.
Turtle eggs make a lot of money. They can even be traded for drugs or alcohol. In a very short time nine nests can be looted, resulting in 1,000 eggs to sell on the black market.
This can bring in a ¢1 million profit. It is estimated that ¢60 million is made per nesting season on the black market.
The 18 kilometers of Moin beach are becoming a gold mine. It is also a battleground between the poachers and the people and organizations working towards conservation of these turtle species.
There are volunteer patrol groups that walk the beaches at night, clean them during the day, and build nurseries to protect eggs. The nurseries are guarded 24 hours a day and have a 90% rate of turtles hatching.
