Smugglers drown falcons in sea

Three men caught smuggling falcons by a coast guard patrol in Ras Al Khaimah drowned all the birds in the sea to escape being arrested.

Police recovered the dead birds after arresting the three and produced them as evidence in court to convict them on charges of trying to smuggle banned birds

The three, two Asians and one from another Gulf country, were sailing off the Northern emirate when they were spotted by RAK coast guards.

In court, they claimed they were on a hunting trip and had no intention to smuggle banned birds into the UAE, according to the Sharjah-based Arabic language daily 'Al Khaleej', but did not say how many falcons were drowned.