News

The Kamchatka Territory Office of the Investigative Committee has initiated criminal proceedings against an organized group of 12 people from different regions of Russia. They are suspected of illegal capturing and keeping of wild animals of kinds listed in the RF Red Book committed by an organized group under part 3 of Article 258.1 of the RF Penal Code.

According to investigators, from June to November 2016, the organized group captured 17 gyrfalcons listed in the RF Red Book in the Yaavn Lagoon and Shlyupochnaya Bay in Olyutorsky District. They then kept the birds until they were found and confiscated by police.

The criminal actions of the organized group caused a damage of some 20 million rubles. The birds have been released by now. The crime was revealed by the Eastern Arctic District Border Office and the Kamchatka Territory Office of the Federal Security Service and agents of the Kamchatka Territory Police Department. A lot of hunting tools, guns and ammunition, communication means, devices to keep birds in captivity were confiscated from the suspects.

At present, the suspects are in detention and are expecting custodial restraint. Investigative operations are underway to find out all the circumstances surrounding the crime and to see if the group has been involved in other crimes. The investigation is ongoing.