Cascabeles de serpiente, el cráneo de un ocelote, patas de tapir, cabezas de tucanes… Las autoridades de Bogotá anunciaron este jueves el hallazgo de cientos de partes de animales silvestres que eran vendidas para hacer brujería y cultos paganos.

 

Los dientes, extremidades o pieles de 1.400 animales extraídos de la Amazonía y otras regiones de Colombia, el segundo país con mayor biodiversidad del mundo, eran distribuidos en locales de un centro comercial del barrio La Candelaria, en el centro de Bogotá.

 

“Estos elementos eran utilizados principalmente para ritos y cultos de personas que se acercaban a adquirir de manera ilegal estos productos”, dijo a medios Óscar López, subsecretario de Ambiente de la alcaldía de la capital colombiana.

 

Las partes de las especies silvestres eran vendidas directamente o dentro de productos fabricados de forma ilegal. También había semillas recogidas de bosques naturales sin los respectivos permisos, agregó.

 

Las piezas eran compradas por “toda clase de personas que creen en ritos de sanación, o rituales esotéricos. Especialmente esa gente que se hace rituales para protegerse de que les disparen. O sea sicarios, bandidos y toda gente al margen de la ley“, dijo a la AFP una fuente de la secretaría de Ambiente.

 

El hallazgo fue el resultado de una iniciativa denominada “Operación Ancestros”, ejecutada la mañana del miércoles por funcionarios de la secretaría de Ambiente y uniformados de la policía de Bogotá.

 

En el operativo hallaron 442 cascabeles de serpientes, 128 dientes de mamíferos, 23 patas de tapir, un cráneo de tigrillo, 12 collares con extremidades de primates, cachos de venado, colas y caparazones de armadillo, cabezas de tucán, plumas de loros y guacamayas, además de pieles de ocelote, puma, boas, anaconda y primates.

 

Las extremidades de las especies eran vendidas en locales donde además comercializaban artesanías y productos naturales.

 

La legislación colombiana establece penas de hasta ocho años de prisión y multas millonarias para los comerciantes o traficantes de especies silvestres.

 

(AFP)

An employee of the Colombian Environment Secretariat shows a seized feline’s fur in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
View of seized deer horns in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
View of a seized feline’s fur in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
View of a seized part of a feline’s leg in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
An employee of the Colombian Environment Secretariat displays seized objects made from parts of wild animals in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
View of seized seahorses in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
View of the seized feet of tapir in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
View of seized necklaces made from primate’s limbs in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
An employee of the Colombian Environment Secretariat shows seized necklaces made from primate’s limbs in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
An employee of the Colombian Environment Secretariat shows seized snakeskins in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
View of a seized necklace made from wild animal’s teeth in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
View of seized parts of rattlesnakes in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
View of seized toucans’ heads in Bogota on September 12, 2019. – The Colombian police and the Environment Secretariat of Bogota recovered over 1,400 objects made from parts of wild animals, some of them in danger of extinction, which were sold for witchcraft and pagan worship. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)