A Birmingham man has been arrested after 11 partridges were found in his luggage when he was travelling from Pakistan to England last Thursday. Police have detained the man under suspicion of trying to illegally smuggle in the birds into the country at Birmingham Airport.
The birds were found in his luggage at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Rawalpindi. Five of the birds were Grey Francolin, which are popular choices for the illegal cock-fighting scene. As a result, a serious probe into bird-fighting has been sparked with concerns that others may be bringing in popular ‘fighting’ birds to the UK. The other birds were black partridge which are common pets in Pakistan. One fighting bird can be sold for as high as £1200 in the UK.
The man arrested is believe to be from Aston is a frequent flier between Pakistan and England. Assistant Sub-Inspector Niaz Ahmed, of the Airport Security Force, said:
“The owner of the suitcases, a British national originally from the Mirpur area of Pakistan, was asked to go through an extra baggage search. This led my staff to recover the live birds from inside two suitcases. The suspect has been arrested under environmental and wildlife protection laws which prohibit the export of these birds from Pakistan.”
