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Turtles that were no more than three months old were found in luggage shipped to the city of Guayaquil in mainland Ecuador during a scheduled inspection on the island of Baltara on Sunday, authorities said.
The chicks were wrapped in plastic and 10 of them died before opening the suitcase.
Five more turtles later died, possibly due to fatigue, the Environment Ministry said on Monday.
The arrested police officer will be charged with wildlife crimes and face a three-year prison sentence, the Ecuadorian prosecutor’s office said on Twitter.
The Galapagos Islands, about 1,000 km off the coast of Ecuador, are a protected wildlife area that is home to unique species of flora and fauna.
Galapagos is a place that inspired Charles Darwin, who observed birds and turtles on different islands, the theory of natural selection.
The reptiles detected, the largest turtles in the world, are the main attractions of these volcanic islands and are considered an endangered species.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, the surviving turtles were transported to a breeding center on the neighboring island of Santa Cruz.
“A veterinary inspection shows that they are not in good health,” he added.
The Minister of the Environment, Marcelo Mata, condemned on Twitter “these crimes against wildlife and the Ecuadorian natural heritage.”
According to the Galapagos Nature Conservation Fund, the Galapagos tortoise came to the islands from the mainland of South America about 2-3 million years ago. years and distributed in 14 species on different islands.
After the death of the last Pinto Island tortoise in 2012, today there are an estimated only 12 species left, scattered across 10 islands, according to the fund’s website.
These slow-growing creatures, about 1.5 to 1.8 m long, can live for more than 100 years.
