Sharjah authorities arrested a group of men from another Gulf country as they tried to smuggle eight endangered Siamese crocodiles into the UAE.
The men were caught as they tried to enter the UAE from Almadam border point with the animals and nine other endangered birds hidden in their car.
Customs officials said the nine birds and eight crocodiles are listed as banned species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Newspapers said authorities confiscated the birds and animals and fined the smugglers in line with local environment laws.
The critically endangered Siamese crocodile is a small to medium-sized freshwater crocodile native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
