- Spanish police are investigating a 60-year-old woman after 15 pangolin carcasses were found in her suitcase at Madrid's Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport.
- The discovery was made during customs checks on passengers arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when an X-ray scan revealed 40kg of pangolin bodies wrapped in plastic.
- The woman is being investigated for an alleged 'crime against wildlife', with the pangolin bodies sent for study by the national body regulating trade in protected species.
- Pangolins are the world's most trafficked mammal, primarily poached for their scales and meat, with demand from China driving the global trade for unproven medicinal beliefs.
- Protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), illegal trafficking of pangolins poses a severe threat to biodiversity and can result in prison sentences and fines.
IN FULL
