Some 10 people said to be involved in a live-bird trading racket have been arrested after they were tracked down illegally selling specimens through an online auction site, Times of Malta has learnt.

The police confirmed that several weeks of investigation had come to a close and “a number” of people would be charged in court in the coming days.

Police sources said at least 10 had been arrested and dozens of birds had been seized in a series of raids, after the sellers were monitored by a team of officers for several days. The illegal traders were selling golden plovers, normally used as live decoys in bird trapping.

While it is not illegal to use the birds as live decoys, it is illegal to sell them once they have been captured. There are no importers of the species registered on the island and ornithologists contacted by Times of Malta said it is impossible to breed golden plovers in captivity.

“These birds must have been caught using nets. Plovers have a complex mating pattern. They mate in vast open spaces in the arctic tundra and northern moors, not in some garage or a bird loft,” one expert said.

The illegal sellers were reported to the police by German conservationist NGO Committee Against Bird Slaughter last month. The NGO said it had spotted at least a dozen people taking bids for golden plovers on Maltapark.

A CABS spokesman said the adverts ranged in price and some of them had been posted after the trapping season had already closed in January.

‘I want to get these birds off my hands’

“We noticed something like this happening in Germany a few years ago too and were able to stop it. It is important to note that illegalities related to hunting and trapping are varied and there is a lot that remains unseen or not properly dealt with. Luckily these guys have been stopped,” the spokesman said.

However, despite the police investigation, several other sellers are still active on the local bidding site. Over the past few days Times of Malta contacted three sellers who all agreed to meet the prospective ‘buyer’, with prices varying between €15 and €50 per bird.

One seller, who wanted to meet in a garage complex in Żebbug, offered a bundle price.

“One bird for €15 and four for €50; I want to get these off my hands,” the seller said in a text message. Another claimed he was being inundated with requests but passed this newspaper on to “a friend” who was only willing to meet to sell at least three birds.

The final seller contacted by this newspaper claimed his product was superior to others on the market, because his birds were not kept in a dark room but in an airy loft normally used for pigeons.

“These won’t die next week, you’ll get a lot of use out of them,” he said.