page_title: Tony Silva
section_title: Operation Renegade
hierarchical_section_title: Tony Silva / Smuggling / Operation Renegade
caption_attribution_description: Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus English: Hyacinth Macaw also known as Hyacinthine Macaw at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park
context_page_description: Tony Silva is an American aviculturist and ornithologist, and the author of books and articles about parrots. From 1989 to 1992, he was curator of birds at Loro Parque, the largest parrot park in the world. In 1996, he was convicted of conspiring to smuggle rare parrots into the United States and of tax evasion.
context_section_description: In 1989, Silva became a person of interest in an international probe into bird smuggling known as "Operation Renegade" led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Silva had been brought to the attention of authorities when convicted drug lord Mario Tabraue turned informant, claiming that he had received a shipment of 35 smuggled hyacinth macaws from Silva—which arrived sick and died soon thereafter. In early 1990, Silva's friend Jim Mackman approached authorities after discovering that Silva had been smuggling protected birds. Between 1990 and 1992, Mackman worked as an undercover informant for USFWS, secretly recording more than 100 conversations with Silva and his mother about their smuggling operation. A search warrant executed on 16 January 1992 resulted in the seizure of 103 parrots, some or all of which were protected or illegally imported. The search also revealed ledgers documenting illegal transactions and photographs of birds that had died en route to Silva; prosecutors alleged that Silva used these photographs to justify withholding payments to his supplier.
  Between November 1994 and April 1995, Silva was indicted on 20 charges, including charges of conspiracy to commit wildlife smuggling, as well as charges of tax evasion and perjury. Silva was charged with smuggling at least 186 hyacinth macaws into the United States; this comprised 5–10% of the global population. Silva was also charged with illegally trafficking, transporting, or possessing a number of other birds such as crimson-bellied conures, Queen of Bavaria conures, vinaceous amazons, cockatoos, flamingos, and toco toucans. He was suspected of having smuggled Spix's macaws, but this could not be proven.
  On 30 January 1996, Silva pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain to one count of conspiracy to violate wildlife and customs laws and one count of filing a false income tax return. He later attempted to reverse his guilty plea, but this was not permitted by the court. On 18 November 1996, Silva was convicted of smuggling more than 450 protected birds and seven monkeys into the United States. He was sentenced to 82 months in prison, fined $100,000, and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service during a three-year probationary term after his prison sentence. At the time, this was the severest-ever sentence for bird smuggling in the United States, imposed by the judge because of "great cruelty" inflicted upon the birds.
  Silva was incarcerated at FPC Duluth. Appeals of his conviction were unsuccessful, as was an attempt to sue the U.S. government for the value of the parrots confiscated during the 1992 search. Silva was released in May 2002.
caption: Silva was charged with smuggling at least 186 hyacinth macaws into the United States. At the time, each had a street value of $5,000–$12,000.[22]
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