A man was busted attempting to smuggle 400 canaries inside three suitcases as he boarded a flight to Brazil.
The passenger placed nine cages inside the luggage bags and tried to check them in at Boa Vista International Airport in Roraima on Sunday.
The traveler, whose name was not released by the Federal Police, was scheduled to Brasilia, the South American nation’s capital.
He was taken to the law enforcement agency’s headquarters and questioned before he was released after posting bail.
The canaries were transferred to the Wild Animal Screening Center as part of the investigation.
Each canary could have been sold between $180 to $710 in the black market, Metropoles news outlet reported.
The passenger is the second person arrested while trying to smuggle 500 canaries through Boa Vista International Airport last month.
On June 8, an airline worker alerted authorities are noticing ‘bird movement and noises’ after the man checked in four bags.
Federal Police agents inspected the bags and found one bird dead.
The passenger was arrested and released after he posted bail.
In April, Naiane Pimentel was arrested at Eduardo Gomes International Airport in Manaus for attempting to ship 12 stingrays to São Paulo.
Investigators indicated that the endangered stingrays would have been smuggled out of Brazil.
Each stingray could have been sold for as much as $1,200.
Pimentel, a lawyer and legal adviser for the Borba municipal government, was arrested and released on bail.