Global News - September 2007
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Smuggler 'used prosthetic limb to hide rare animals'
Mon 24 September 2007 14:00 UK — South America
A man has been accused of attempting to smuggle three rare iguanas out of Fiji inside his false leg.
US citizen Jereme James is accused of stealing the banded iguanas while on a visit to the south Pacific island in 2002.
It is alleged that Mr James constructed a special compartment inside his prosthetic limb to move the reptiles.
Mr James was caught after boasting to undercover wildlife officials that he had sold three banded iguanas for the sum of $32,000 (£16,000) four years ago.
Officials added that they recovered several more of the reptiles from Mr James' home and that these would now be placed in specialist conservation projects.
The Fiji banded iguana is currently listed as being endangered and their survival is threatened as a result of habitat loss and the introduction of predators on their native island.
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