Spanish Police Arrest Woman Smuggling Dead Pangolins Linked to Coronavirus

The two pangolins, found in an advanced state of decomposition, were wrapped in plastic, in a lost suitcase, according to the Guardia Civil. Subsequently, a 25-year-old woman was arrested. She is suspected of "crime against wildlife" and "illegal trafficking of protected or endangered species", reports 20 Minutos.

The alleged owner of the suitcase had left Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, to reach Madrid. Her last stopover was Casablanca, where she would have lost her suitcase, while she had claimed to have "nothing to declare" during the inspection in Almería.

The same source indicates that the animals had been eviscerated, and their scales removed. This raises suspicions of illicit sale of the animal parts.
Last Thursday, an NGO for the preservation of illegal animal trafficking circuits declared to AFP that nearly 900,000 pangolins, an endangered species, have been illegally sold worldwide over the past two decades.