Illegal removal of plant species

[jane cole]

Just received this message from Charles Glass, curator of Plants, Cante.A.C.:
"On December 5, 1996, in a leading Mexian daily newspaper (LA JORNADA) it was r
eported that 'Ten Czechs who extracted cacti without permission were arrested i
n Nuevo Leon.' The article went on to say that 'the rural state police detained
 10 foreigners of Czech Nationality when they were surprised in the Municipalit
y of Galeana, illegally extracting cactus plants in danger of extinction to tak
e them to Europe where a sole piece may fetch as much as two thousand dollars,
informed the state delegate of the Federal Attorney's Office for the Protection
 of the Environment (PROFEPA) Jose Luis Tamez Garza....(There were) 290 cactus
plants, 103 samples of lichens and five thousand cactus seeds of different spec
ies, 450 grams of other varieties of plants and 39 cactus fruits.  On Thursday
of the previous week the rural police also detained in Galeana, south of Monter
rey, the Czechs Ladislav Vasek and Moloslav Stania, who had in their possession
 rare species of cactus, as well as seeds of the same plants." End of message.

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Jane B. Cole                 Phone: 602, 941-1225
Librarian                    Fax: 602, 481-8124
Desert Botanical Garden      Email:adjbc at asuvm.inre.asu.edu
1201 North Galvin Parkway
Phoenix, arizona 85008 U.S.A.
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