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STOP PRESS:
Germany’s No. 1 illegal animal
trader is arrested!
Victor Hubert Franck, Germany’s most
wanted illegal animal trader from the Rhineland Palatinate, was arrested at the beginning of March in Spain. An international arrest warrant in his name was issued 5 years ago and a
spectacular manhunt followed. Franck, whom a long prison sentence in Germany
for illegal animal trading (including parrots and eagles) awaits, fled abroad shortly after sentencing in January 2001. The
German Committee against Bird Slaughter (Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e.V.) stated shortly after his arrest that they had had
a tip off that Franck was living in Malaga, Spain.
The informant, who had seen a report in a TV crime buster programme saw the wanted poster in the internet and contacted the
Committee’s offices in Bonn. “We immediately arranged
a meeting with the caller and passed his information to the CID in Frankfurt/Main”
said the spokesman Alex Hirschfeld with some satisfaction.
Reward: Wanted for illegal trade in birds and animals
Dear colleagues & friends,
The German police and my organisation are looking for any information regarding
the abode or residence of Mr. Victor Hubert FRANCK, a criminal German animal-smuggler who was condemned to three years in
prison by a court in Frankfurt/Germany in January 2001. He was jailed principally because of illegal trade in rare parrots,
primates, big cats, reptiles and birds of prey from all over the world.
FRANCK was the head of an international network
of trappers, exporters, zoos and offered incredible numbers of extremely rare animals from South America, Africa, Asia and
Russia
(e.g. Gorillas, Orang-Utans, Komodo-Waran, Ara couloni, rare Colibris and birds from Peru). A charity for the conservation of animals called "FUNDACEF" (Fundacion Cèsar
Franck) was founded by FRANCK and was used as a cover organisation to hide the illegal trade of its chairman, Mr.FRANCK who
filled his own bank account with hundreds of thousands of EURO from the illegal animal deals. Branches of FUNDACEF were also
founded in Peru, Brazil
and Chile.
More below:
Shortly
after sentencing by the court decision he diappeared and has now been on the run for more than 4 years. In the last months
the Komitee received information from different sources that FRANCK has setup his residence outside Germany.
Unfortunately no more details are available up to today. Because of the big international aspect of his animal deals he surely
has contacts to all parts of the world and could be everywhere.
The
fact that he travelled often to Brazil, Chile
and Peru and that his wife is from Peru
are indicators that he may have he escaped to South America, but that is only an assumption.
FRANCK speaks good Spanish and Portuguese as well as English. He is about 170cm tall and his age is 69 years. You can find
a picture from Mr FRANCK on the German "wanted poster" above. For any information leading to the
arrest of FRANCK my organisation
will pay a reward of 3,000 USD.
If you have any information about FRANCK or if you need any more details, material
and footage on his illegal activities please do not hesitate to contact me. Even the smallest hint and also old traces can
help. Please help us to bring this criminal animal-dealer into prison.
Thank you very much for your help and cooperation.
Axel Hirschfeld
--
Komitee gegen den Vogelmord
e.V.
Aktionsgemeinschaft für Tier- und Artenschutz Bundesgeschäftsstelle Auf dem
Dransdorfer Berg 98, 53121 Bonn, Germany
Tel.:
+49 228 66 55 21
Fax : +49 228 66 52 80
Email: komi-@komitee.de
Internet:
http://www.komitee.de
http://www.artenschutzbrief.de
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