11 indicted for smuggling over 4,500 parrot eggs to China

Taipei, July 7 (CNA) Prosecutors in the Matsu Islands (Lienchiang County) said Monday they have indicted 11 individuals in connection with the alleged smuggling of more than 4,500 fertilized eggs of parrots to China.

An investigation found that the 11 persons had purchased fertilized parrot eggs from Thailand and Vietnam, Taiwan's Fuchien Lienchiang District Prosecutors Office said in a statement.

The two main suspects, surnamed Chang (張) and Yang (楊), allegedly targeted the lucrative Chinese market, where rare parrot species are popular pets, prosecutors added.

Using the offshore counties of Lienchiang and Kinmen as transit points, they transported the uninspected eggs without an export/import permit from Thailand or Vietnam by air to Taiwan where the eggs were hatched.

The parrots were raised in facilities in Nantou and Yunlin counties, and the eggs they produced were then shipped by sea to Kinmen or Matsu before being transferred to Chinese smugglers at sea, according to the statement.

Between 2024 and March 2025, the suspects smuggled a total of 4,512 parrot eggs out of Taiwan, earning an estimated NT$5.68 million (US$195,578) in illicit profits. The largest single shipment involved over 1,000 eggs, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors have recommended the confiscation of illicit gains and have charged the suspects with smuggling under the Wildlife Conservation Act, the Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases, and the Money Laundering Control Act.

According to prosecutors, among the smuggled eggs, 570 were eggs of protected parrot species listed in the appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

These included the grey parrot, blue-and-yellow macaw, white-bellied parrot, white cockatoo, and yellow-naped parrot, prosecutors said.

Chief Prosecutor Tsai Chieh-cheng (蔡杰承) told CNA that the investigation was launched after a tip-off led authorities to the smuggled parrot eggs in Kinmen and Matsu.

Subsequent analysis of the suspects' communications and financial records confirmed the smuggling of 4,512 eggs to China, Tsai said.