Police seize 6,000 birds' eggs in strike against global crime network

More than 6,000 eggs have been seized in the biggest haul of its kind in UK history after police carried out raids in Scotland, South Yorkshire, Essex, Wales and Gloucester.

- Phoebe Weston

Thousands of eggs were found secreted in attics, offices and drawers.

The UK raids took place in November as part of Operation Pulka, an international effort to tackle organised wildlife crime. The raids began in June 2023 in Norway, and resulted in 16 arrests and the seizure of 50,000 eggs. In Australia, an estimated 3,500 eggs have been seized, which were worth up to £250,000.

Intelligence suggests this is a single, international crime network. The National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) said it was the largest of its kind in the UK in terms of the number of eggs and the scale of the network. DI Mark Harrison from NWCU said: "The rarer a species is, the higher its demand and value to these criminals.