Brazilian authorities have arrested a gang of poachers, including Temístocles Barbosa Freire, a dentist, who has reportedly killed more than 1,000 jaguars over more than three decades.
According to a statement posted on the website of the nonprofit OECO, the group of illegal hunters were captured while operating in the interior of Acre, in the region of Fazenda Cacau, a rural area in the municipality of Porto Acre, Brazil.
The investigation was based on wiretapping, monitoring cell phones and collecting photos and videos where the accused recorded the animals being killed.
Tragically, in the three months of monitoring, eight jaguars, 13 capybaras, 10 hounds and two dead deer were documented being killed by the group.
The modus operandi adopted by the pack, according to the complaint, consisted in the use of a cuíca, a Brazilian friction drum with a large pitch range to attract the jaguar. The criminal group also used dogs and the decaying flesh of dead animals to lure their prey.
Members of the group also include Doria de Lucena Júnior, Sinézio Adriano de Oliveira, Gilvan Souza Nunes, Gisleno José Oliveira de Araújo Sá, Alves de Oliveira, Sebastião Júnior de Oliveira Costa, Reginaldo Ribeiro da Silva, and Gersildo dos Santos Araújo.
The defendants, who are charged with illegal hunting and the use of firearms without permission, can and should receive prison sentences and fines, which may vary according to the participation of each one in the crimes committed.
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