Banned leather smuggler sentenced
28/04/2008
A court in Texas has sentenced a leather trader to 16 months in prison.
Carlos Leal, who is from Guzmán in Mexico, was one of seven people caught during an undercover investigation into leather smuggling from Mexico to the United States. He is the first to be sentenced.
Specifically, he was found guilty of buying sea turtle hides from Mexican fishermen, tanning the hides and sending the leather to footwear manufacturers on both sides of the border. It is illegal to trade in the flesh, shell, eggs or skin of sea turtles, an endangered species, in both countries. In all he sent 360 pieces of the banned leather to the US, as well as finished leathergoods that included boots, shoes and belts.
Other people caught up in the case face sentencing in July.
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