Gecko smuggling jail sentence welcomed

A jail sentence handed down to a German visitor who pleaded guilty to possessing New Zealand geckos has been welcomed by the Wildlife Enforcement Group.

Manfred Walter Bachmann, a 55-year-old engineer living in Kampala, Uganda, was today sentenced in Christchurch District Court to 15 weeks in jail for his role in a wildlife smuggling venture.

He was caught with 16 protected jewelled geckos in his backpack in February and pleaded guilty to the Wildlife Act charges at his first court appearance.

Co-accused Swiss national Thomas Price today pleaded guilty to possessing absolutely protected wildlife, and Spaniard Gustavo Toldedo-Albarrans pleaded guilty to hunting absolutely protected wildlife.

Both were remanded in custody for sentencing on March 29.

The court was told Bachmann was handed the geckos by Price, when the animals had been packed into plastic tubes. He was meant to pass the package on to a fourth person who would have taken them out of the country. The fourth person has never been caught.

The 15-week jail term imposed on Bachmann by Judge Jane Farish today was one week longer than the sentence for another German national, Hans Kurt Kubus, who was caught at Christchurch International Airport with 44 geckos and skinks in December. Kubus was also fined $5000.

The Wildlife Enforcement Group, a partnership between the Customs Service, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Department of Conservation, said Bachmann's sentencing today sent a message that wildlife smuggling would not be taken lightly.

Department of Conservation investigator Stuart Williamson said the geckos would have suffered stress from being in the plastic tubes.

Nine of the 11 female geckos were pregnant and the stress could cause them to lose their young, as happened in Kubus' case, Mr Williamson said.

More details emerged today about the latest Department of Conservation interception in which the department says it was "acting on information received".

Prosecutor Mike Bodie said Price and Toledo-Albarran had arrived in New Zealand on February 5, rented a vehicle and drove to Dunedin where they planned to collect wildlife from Otago Peninsula for illegal export.

Over five days, Toledo-Albarran searched vegetation for the 16 animals which were later placed into plastic tubing sealed with cotton wool and tape, and with breathing apertures.

They drove back to Christchurch on February 12. Price met Bachmann and handed him the package of tubes and the men were arrested soon after.

The animals had a total value of $192,000 on the European market.

Counsel for Bachmann, Glenn Henderson, described his client as "a courier - a bit of a dupe in the middle".

But Mr Bodie said: "It is hard to reconcile the enormous amount of international travel he has done in the last 10 months."

Judge Farish said: "I don't buy into what he's said about being naive or being a dupe. This was clearly premeditated offending. Given his age and his travelling, he's not that naive."

The department had bank records showing deposits of $750 into Bachmann's account two days before his travel to New Zealand, and a later deposit from Switzerland of $1024.

He was found with $1200 in cash, but the judge said she was unable to order its forfeiture under the Proceeds of Crime legislation without more detail, and she declined to order that it be put towards covering the cost of prosecution.

Mr Bodie later told Judge David Saunders the department was concerned about the risk of Price leaving the country if granted bail because it believed he had access to another passport.

Defence counsel Simon Graham applied for bail for the pair but it was refused by Judge Saunders who said prison sentences were likely, given other recent jail terms handed down "to people who hunt our wildlife for commercial gain".

- NZPA