Italian police seize 200 exotic birds

CATANIA, Italy, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Italian police arrested three men Friday in Sicily and charged them with smuggling endangered exotic birds to Malta.

Two of the suspects are Italian and the third a Maltese truck driver, the Italian ANSA news agency reported. Investigators confiscated 200 birds and $1,320.

The arrests were made in Catania, on the east coast of Sicily.

The birds, all members of small species, were turned over to a wildlife rescue center. The plan is to release them in a wildlife refuge.

Investigators say the suspects hoped to sell the birds in Malta for $260 to $660 each.