FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1997                        (202) 616-2777
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                 DUTCH REPTILE SMUGGLER INDICTED


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal grand jury in Orlando today
indicted a foreign Dutch national for illegally smuggling
thirteen endangered tortoises into the United States in August,
the Justice Department announced.  

     Friedrich Karl Postma, 37, of Almelo, The Netherlands, was
arrested at the Orlando International Airport after U.S. Customs
Service Agents, working in conjunction with the Tampa office of
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, searched Postma's suitcase on
August 28.  In the suitcase, authorities discovered thirteen
Radiated Tortoises concealed in five socks.
  
     If convicted, Postma faces a maximum sentence of five years
in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

     The animals, which are indigenous to Madagascar, are listed
as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and protected
under an international treaty known as the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora.

     Postma, who runs a reptile business in The Netherlands
called Sauria, was recently a speaker at the Orlando
International Reptile Breeder's Expo in August.  He specializes
in certain species of day geckos.

     Law enforcement authorities both in The Netherlands and the
United States had identified Postma as a suspected wildlife
smuggler and cooperatively shared information regarding their
respective investigations.  

     The prosecution is being handled jointly by the U.S.
Attorney's Office in Orlando and the Wildlife and Marine
Resources Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division,
U.S. Department of Justice.
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