A 27-year-old man was arrested and charged with having a dead boa constrictor snake and the skin from another.
The man, who is believed to be a gardener, was caught with two dead boa constrictor snakes earlier this week.
The man allegedly told police that he had eaten one snake and was planning to eat another. The man said the meat tastes similar to shark.
His arrest occurred a day before the two-year moratorium on hunting was lifted at midnight on Wednesday.
Police reports are that around 8.30 pm, Forester I Kishan Ramcharan received information that someone was in possession of the protected snake carcass.
Police officers from the Rio Claro CID, Constables Naim Mohammed and Vishal Rampersad, assisted Ramcharan in conducting a sting operation in which they pretended to be customers interested in purchasing the snake.
The officers met the man near his home at Cunapo Southern Main Road, Rio Claro, where he had in his possession a crocus bag containing the carcass of one macajuel snake approximately 3.7 metres in length and the skin of another almost the same length.
The officers identified themselves and told the man the snakes were protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act.
Police said the man admitted that he got the snakes from someone and was using them for his personal consumption. When questioned about the skin, he said he had already consumed that snake.
He was arrested and taken to the Rio Claro Police Station. He appeared at the Rio Claro Magistrates court before Magistrate Chankar on Wednesday morning, where he pleaded guilty to two charges—possession of the carcass of a prohibited animal and possession of the skin of a prohibited animal.
He was fined $1,000 for each offence.