Luxury handbag designer smuggled bags made out of protected python and caiman into U.S.
A Colombian handbag designer has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after federal prosecutors said she illegally smuggled handbags made from caiman and python skin — both protected species — to New York.
A Colombian handbag designer has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after federal prosecutors said she illegally smuggled handbags made from caiman and python skin — both protected species — to New York.
Nancy Teresa Gonzalez de Barberi, the founder of luxury handbag company Gzuniga Ltd., had been indicted in April 2022 on a charge of conspiracy and two counts of smuggling into the U.S. for illegally importing the bags from February 2016 to April 2019.
Gonzalez and her company had pleaded guilty to the federal charges in November 2023.
The Department of Justice said in a news release that Gonzalez made bags of caiman and python skin — both of which are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement to protect wildlife signed by both the U.S. and Colombia.
Under the Endangered Species Act, the trade of such species isn't fully banned, but requires a permit issued by the host country to be cleared by U.S. officials upon importation.
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