14 DAY TRIAL // A 26-year-old turtle conservationist named Jairo Mora Sandoval was killed by poachers in Costa Rica towards the end of last week. Jairo Mora Sandoval's body was discovered on Moín Beach early Friday morning.
Authorities say that the young man did not die while engaging in a confrontation with the poachers, but was executed by them.
On Thursday evening, both this 26-year-old conservationist and four other volunteers who shared his passion for protecting the turtles that come to nest on these Costa Rican beaches were kidnapped by a group of poachers who held them at gunpoint, sources report.
It appears that the poachers were wearing masks when they kidnapped them, which is why authorities suspect that Jairo Mora Sandoval's death had been planned in advance.
At that time, the conservationists were out on patrol. Their goal was to keep the turtle nests on Costa Rica's northern Caribbean coast safe from poachers.
Of the five conservationists kidnapped, Jairo Mora Sandoval was the only one who was killed.
Those close to him say that, back in 2012, the 26-year-old turtle conservationist received several death threats and that the poachers even held him at gunpoint and demanded that he quit walking the beaches.
The young man refused to give in to these demands, and carried on patrolling the turtle's nesting areas.
“He was held up at gunpoint, and they told him to back off and stop the walks. That was his first warning, and I guess his last,” conservationist Vanessa Lizano told the press.
Local authorities are now busy investigating this incident, and hope that it will not be long until they find the poachers responsible for Jario Mora Sandoval's death.
Conservationists say that, according to their investigations, turtle eggs are highly sought after in Costa Rica.
They sell for about $1 (€0.76) on the local illegal market, and the people who buy them do so because they believe that they can be used as aphrodisiacs.