A man has been arrested and bailed following the discovery of “a number of” dead owls in a freezer, as well as 25 stuffed birds, according to the BBC.
The 49 -year -old was detained on suspicion of trading in endangered species following a search of his property in Stanford-le-Hope in Essex. The arrest came as part of a wider joint enquiry involving the newly-formed National Crime Agency, the Border Force and the National Wildlife Crime Unit; an enquiry which apparently has so far identified around 150 endangered birds that are suspected to have been sold without the correct permits and certificates.
It’s great to see the new National Crime Agency getting involved with wildlife crime investigations….let’s hope that continues and that they turn their attention to the poisoning, shooting and trapping of UK raptors.
BBC article here.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Yes, very promising news.
As previous cases have shown, including in Scotland, such [alleged still in this case] illegal trading is a driver for raptor persecution – if you want rid of raptors anyway and someone will pay for the corpses its a double whammy for the killers.