Spanish police have arrested a Russian couple in connection with the sale of exotic cats online, including protected species such as white tigers, clouded leopards and pumas.
The authorities raided the pair's home in Manacor on the Balearic island of Mallorca, and seized 19 animals, Spain's Civil Guard said in a statement on Monday. The couple were arrested for wildlife crimes, smuggling, organised crime, and document falsification.
More than 40 irregular animal passports from countries such as Russia, Belarus and China were also found, according to the authorities.
The detainees are a 48-year-old Russian man and a 46-year-old Russian woman. A third suspect — a 48-year-old Israeli national — is also being investigated by Spanish authorities.
The operation began in March 2024 when the Civil Guard became aware of a couple raising servals, caracals and hybrids with domestic cats to sell them on social media.
The suspects are alleged to have advertised white tigers, clouded leopards — for which they were charging €60,000 — Eurasian lynxes, hyenas, black leopards and pumas.
The Civil Guard said the couple's enterprise was just "the tip of the iceberg of a plot" of an international criminal organisation involving animal breeders, transporters and vets.
"Most of the animals offered for sale came from countries such as Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, to be smuggled into the European Union," the Civil Guard said.
The animals were smuggled into the EU through Poland's border with Belarus and then transported using false documents, according to the authorities.
Attempts to breed and own these types of felines as pets are widespread in eastern parts of Europe, and the trend has taken root in other countries, the Civil Guard claimed.
The recovered animals will be transferred to a rescue and rehabilitation centre for exotic mammals in Alicante in eastern Spain.
