23,000 endangered succulent plants disguised as toys and 12,000 as mushrooms were discovered at Cape Town airport in April 2022, exploiting postal and courier services.

South African officials at Cape Town airport discovered 23,000 endangered succulent plants disguised as toys in April 2022, and later found another 12,000 plants labeled as mushrooms. Traffickers use such tactics to smuggle rare species, exploiting postal and courier services. Conophytum succulents, subject to trade restrictions, are commonly smuggled due to their critical or endangered status on the IUCN red list.

July 04, 2024
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