Traffickers Are Ripping Latin America’s Wildlife From the Wild and Smuggling It to the U.S.

Latin America’s rich biodiversity is under assault. More than 100,000 animals were trafficked across the region between 2017 and 2022, with nearly 93% transported alive—mostly reptiles, birds, and amphibians. The animals are often stuffed into backpacks, boxes, or coolers, smuggled across borders by road or air, and sold into the global pet trade or for use in traditional medicine and souvenirs, IFAW reports.

While Europe is the top destination, illegal shipments increasingly reach the U.S., where border states like Texas and Arizona see frequent seizures. Key U.S. ports of entry include El Paso, Nogales, and Dallas/Fort Worth, according to seizure data analyzed by Mongabay.

Wildlife traffickers are smuggling thousands of live animals from Latin America to the U.S.

Exotic Pet Demand Drives the Market

The illegal trade thrives on demand for rare and visually striking animals. Brightly colored frogs, songbirds, turtles, and monkeys are especially prized by collectors and pet hobbyists.

“There are hobbyists who will pay more money the rarer a species is,” Susan Lieberman of the Wildlife Conservation Society told Mongabay.

Mexico alone accounted for more than a quarter of all trafficking and poaching incidents in Hispanic America, followed by Colombia, Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia. Most animals were moved overland, concealed among passenger luggage or parcels, The Cool Down reports.

More than 100,000 animals were seized from 2017 to 2022 in Hispanic America alone.

Legal Loopholes Create Openings

A major obstacle in fighting this crisis is weak international regulation. Most seized species weren’t listed under CITES, the global treaty regulating wildlife trade. This means they could be freely bought and sold once outside their country of origin, even if their capture was illegal, Mongabay reports.

Unlike the U.S. Lacey Act, which prohibits the import of illegally sourced wildlife, European laws often fail to check whether the animals were captured legally. This creates a laundering system where wild-caught animals are falsely labeled as captive-bred and move through legal channels undetected.

Collectors aren’t just exploiting weak rules—they often know exactly what they’re doing. “The hobbyists know it’s illegal,” Lieberman said.

Most trafficked animals are reptiles, amphibians, and birds targeted for the exotic pet trade.

Animal Welfare and Public Health at Stake

The suffering behind each shipment is immense. In a single seizure in Mexico, authorities recovered nearly 30,000 mud and musk turtles—many of which died en route. Others are packed so tightly in boxes or plastic bottles that they suffocate before they’re even moved, IFAW reports.

These operations not only threaten wildlife but also people. Stress, overcrowding, and poor hygiene increase the risk of zoonotic disease spillover—potentially sparking outbreaks similar to COVID-19.

Nearly 93% of animals in this trade are smuggled alive under brutal conditions.

Fighting Back Requires More Than Awareness

Governments across Latin America have begun ramping up enforcement. Countries like Peru and Colombia are improving wildlife protection laws and investing in training for frontline officers. But without international coordination and tougher penalties for traffickers, progress remains slow, IFAW notes.

The European Union has introduced new measures, like the Digital Services Act, to crack down on illegal online wildlife trade. Still, many recommendations remain nonbinding. Until countries close legal loopholes and raise the cost of participating in the trade, traffickers will continue to exploit the system.

This is more than an environmental crisis—it’s a transnational threat with local consequences. And it won’t stop until demand, profit, and access are all addressed at once.

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