A Mexican man who presumably was part of an international ring of wildlife traffickers, was arrested in Ecuador on Monday 7th September, trying to leave the Galapagos Islands with 11 endangered iguanas in his luggage. The alleged trafficker, who authorities said had previously committed similar crimes in New Zealand, was trying to transport nine marine iguanas and two land iguanas, all endemic to the islands' fragile ecosystem. The Ecuadoran Environment Ministry said in a statement that the man had intended to send the reptiles to Uganda with the aid of other foreigners who had come to the islands on the pretext of tourism.

Galapagos National Park Authorities stated There are two iguanas who are under great stress, but their condition is good. The land iguanas were evaluated, measured, and weighed. The arrest is the result of a three-month investigation by the Environmental Ministry of an alleged international network of wildlife trafficking, an activity that is one of the world’s most profitable on the black market, after drug trafficking and illicit weapons.

Stopped in the town of Puerto Ayora, on the island of Santa Cruz, the man, whose name was not released, was transferred to a mainland prison in Guayaquil. Ecuadoran authorities are investigating his possible involvement in a global network of traffickers in protected species. In 2013, a German man was sentenced to four years in prison for trying to take four iguanas out of Ecuador in his luggage.