ROSTOV-ON-DON, February 21 (RIA Novosti) - A group of smugglers were caught red-handed by customs officers in Belgorod, a city in southwest Russia, with exotic monkeys in their baggage on Ukraine's border with Russia.
"Several men were transporting lemurs in their car," a spokesman for the customs office said. International trade of this species is prohibited by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).
The would-be smugglers could get an estimated $5,000 for the animals, the spokesman added. The lemurs are currently housed in the Belgorod Zoo.
A criminal case has been opened into the incident.
