The Uttar Pradesh Police Special Task Force (STF) has arrested an alleged member of an international wildlife trafficking syndicate in Lucknow and recovered seven rare falcons from his possession, the STF said. The accused, identified as Firoz Musarrat Khan, a resident of Byculla in Mumbai, was apprehended from a house in Iradat Nagar under the Madiaon police station area, news agency ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Indian Economic Observer

Additional Superintendent of Police (STF) Avanishwar Srivastava said the arrest followed specific intelligence that a Mumbai-based smuggler was arriving in Lucknow with prohibited wildlife species. The STF shared the information with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) in Lucknow and jointly coordinated the operation, after which the suspect was intercepted and the seven falcons were recovered, The Times of India reported.

Source: The Times of India via OB News

7Rare falcons recovered in Lucknow
Rs 14 croreEstimated value in the international market
Schedule IHighest protection under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
Gorakhpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, SitapurUP forest areas named by the STF as sourcing grounds

During questioning, Khan allegedly told investigators that he was part of a trafficking syndicate that procured protected and prohibited bird species from different parts of Uttar Pradesh. According to the STF, the gang sourced the birds from forest areas in Gorakhpur, Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur and routed them through Mumbai for international trafficking, with the consignment intended for destinations including Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. These are the agency's allegations, based on its account of the questioning; they have not been proved in court.

Case registered under the Wildlife Act; wider network under probe

A case has been registered at Madiaon police station under Sections 9, 39, 49, 50 and 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and a mobile phone and an Aadhaar card were seized from the accused. The STF said the falcons belong to a species covered under Schedule I of the Act, which carries the highest level of legal protection for endangered and rare wildlife in India. Investigators are examining the wider network, including others allegedly involved in sourcing, transporting and supplying the protected birds abroad — yaani, police say the single arrest in Lucknow is being treated as one link in a chain that runs from UP's forests to Gulf buyers.