Blue and Gold macaw in netting. In a joint campaign of customs officials and border police, a Serbian citizen was prevented from smuggling two parrots of a protected species on August 14, 2013 at the border crossing Kelebija.
The birds were discovered in a detailed control of an Opel Astra vehicle entering the Republic of Serbia. Both parrots were wrapped in plastic net bags. One of them was hidden under a winter coat at the back seat of the vehicle, while the other was in the spare wheel area.
The second macaw was found in the spare wheel area. When it comes to not reporting and smuggling of this type of goods, customs officials were obliged upon discovering the animals to report the case to the authorized inspector from the Ministry of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection, who determined that those were two Blue-and-yellow Macaws (Ara ararauna).
Since this was a standard smuggling case, a criminal charge was filed and the animals were seized and taken care of in cooperation with the Group for implementing the CITES Convention of the Ministry of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection.