A man has been arrested after police seized 38kg of illegal frozen bushmeat including pangolins, cane rats and porcupines, the food safety watchdog has said.
Officers from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Metropolitan Police found the bushmeat at a site in Deptford, southeast London, on 5 December.
Bushmeat is from wild animals – often species found in tropical regions – that have been hunted.
A 57-year-old man was arrested and released under investigation, the FSA said.
The operation targeted illegally imported meat products that posed potential food safety risks to consumers because illegally imported meat bypasses safety checks, the watchdog said.
Some species, such as pangolins, are also critically endangered and all commercial trade of them is prohibited internationally.
Pangolins are hunted by humans for their meat and scales. They are the only type of mammal with scales covering their bodies from head to tail, and they feed on ants, termites and insect larvae, according to the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
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One million pangolins are thought to have been poached in the space of a single decade to satisfy demand, making them perhaps the world’s most-poached animal, ZSL said.
It said pangolins’ scales and other body parts are used for traditional medicine in China, Vietnam and parts of West and Central Africa, despite there being no scientific evidence of them having any health benefits.
A senior investigator at the FSA, Simon Ashwin, said the body “advises consumers not to buy or eat illegally imported meat, including bushmeat, as it may pose serious health risks”.
A global problem
The news comes as authorities from 134 countries revealed they had seized a record number of illegally traded live animals and a record amount of illegally traded wild animal meat.
An operation between 15 September and 15 October, coordinated by Interpol and the World Customs Organisation, identified 1,100 suspects, and resulted in the arrest of 24 people in South Africa, two in Vietnam and one in Qatar.
Nearly 30,000 live animals were seized in the month-long global sting by police, customs, border security, and forestry and wildlife authorities.
Interpol said the operation underlined a growing demand for exotic pets including birds, tortoises, reptiles and primates.
There was also a sharp rise in the trafficking of exotic arthropods – with almost 10,500 butterflies, spiders and insects seized.
“Though tiny in size, these creatures play vital ecological roles. Their removal destabilises food chains and introduces invasive species or diseases, posing serious biosecurity and public health risks,” Interpol said.
Wild animal meat trafficking was also on the rise – with a record 5.8 tonnes of bushmeat being seized.
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In particular, authorities noted an increase in cases of trafficking from Africa into Europe.
Kenyan officials seized more than 400kg of giraffe meat, while Tanzanian police recovered zebra and antelope meat and skins valued at about £7,500 ($10,000).
Most wildlife trafficking this year involved animal remains, parts and products, often for traditional medicine or foods.
The annual value of wildlife crime is estimated at £14.9bn ($20bn), but the real figure is probably much higher.
Interpol said the operation “once again exposes the sophistication and scale of the criminal networks driving the illegal wildlife and forestry trade – networks that increasingly intersect with all crime areas, from drug trafficking to human exploitation”.
