A Maltese man is facing animal cruelty charges after allegedly attempting to transport 300 tortoises and 77 parrots from Sicily to Malta.

The animals were found packed into a car near the boarding area for a Malta-bound catamaran during an inspection at the Sicilian port of Pozzallo, the local unit of Italy’s financial police squad said on Monday.

Police said they spotted the man “while he was transporting numerous animals” inside a car that lacked adequate space and temperature control.

Checks found 76 of the parrots belonged to protected species. Photograph: Guardia Di Finanza - Ragusa

Subsequent checks by veterinarians found that 76 of the parrots belonged to species protected by the Washington convention, a global agreement signed in 1973 to protect endangered plants and animals from the risk of international trade. Police said the seizure was one of the most significant under the convention.

The animals have been entrusted to a breeding facility, police added.

The Maltese man faces charges of keeping animals in conditions that were incompatible with their nature and causing them severe suffering, along with breaching laws governing international trade in protected species.

Police said the animals were being looked after at a breeding facility. Photograph: Guardia Di Finanza - Ragusa

The discovery comes a month after police found the dried head of a critically endangered crocodile in the luggage of an Italian man at Turin’s Caselle airport after he landed there from Miami via Istanbul. The man was placed under investigation on allegations of smuggling a specimen belonging to a protected species.

Italy is a major transit hub for the illegal trade of exotic animals, much of it rooted in organised crime. In a report published earlier this year, the Italian branch of the WWF said animals including “tortoises, ornamental birds, tropical reptiles and even small primates are illegally traded via online channels and cross-border exchanges”. In 2025, a chimpanzee held illegally in Sicily was seized, the report said.