Person keeping a crocodile in their home caught in Istanbul
In Istanbul's Kartal district, a person who was keeping a 1.5-meter-long crocodile in their home has been taken into custody.
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The Istanbul Police Department's Anti-Smuggling Branch teams launched an investigation following a tip-off that a crocodile was being kept in a home in Kartal.
The teams determined that a 1.5-meter-long crocodile, which is prohibited from being kept in a residence under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), was being cared for in the home of an individual identified as A.P.
It was determined that this individual had recorded videos on their mobile phone of themselves walking the crocodile on a leash while it was wearing a sweater, and had shared these videos on social media.
During a search of the suspect's home by police teams, a taxidermied crocodile was seized in addition to the live animal.
After being processed at the police station, the suspect, A.P., was referred to the courthouse and subsequently released by the on-duty magistrate judge under judicial control conditions.
The crocodile was handed over to the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks.