4 Dominicans are accused of smuggling wildlife and throwing 113 birds overboard to their deaths

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Officials say four men from the Dominican Republic have been indicted in Puerto Rico on charges of smuggling wildlife in a case involving more than 100 dead birds. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Monday that the men were detained after the U.S. Coast Guard spotted them earlier this month aboard a flagless boat north of Puerto Rico and saw them throw wooden cages holding tropical birds overboard. Authorities said some 113 birds were retrieved from the ocean. Officials said the men had traveled to the U.S. territory to smuggle back exotic birds to the neighboring Dominican Republic.