Overview

• Medina, 24, was stopped on May 26 after U.S. Customs agents discovered seven live Amazon parrots concealed in a cardboard box on his car’s passenger floorboard.
• He admitted spending $700 to buy the birds in Mexico with the intent to breed and resell them in the United States.
• US Fish and Wildlife Service identified six of the seized birds as Red-lored Amazon parrots, all of which were sent to a USDA-managed quarantine facility.
• Medina faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine under Title 18 importation laws that protect CITES-listed species.
• This arrest follows two prior prosecutions in San Diego since April that involved smuggled parakeets hidden in vehicles, cases in which several birds died or suffered injuries.