PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Louisiana man accused in a federal turtle trafficking case was arrested in Arizona.
Albert Bazaar appeared before a federal judge in Phoenix on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He is a former resident of Angie, a small village in southeastern Louisiana.
While it is unclear exactly why and where Bazaar was arrested, federal authorities unsealed an indictment filed in San Francisco charging him with conspiracy and violations of the Lacey Act, a federal conservation law that makes it illegal to traffic wildlife taken, possessed, transported or sold.
Prosecutors allege that from January 2022 through December 2023, Bazaar poached and sold more than 1,700 loggerhead musk turtles, 100 stripe-neck musk turtles and 15 striped mud turtles from their native habitats in Florida…