NEWS AND COMMENT: This is just a short note but the story is unusual and quite interesting and therefore worth sharing. It concerns a Rolls-Royce Phantom which was apparently being imported into Italy from Russia and which had been retrofitted with crocodile skin. Crocodile is a protected species under CITES, which is an international treaty trying to prevent the illegal trade of animal body parts and live animals but which, sadly, simply is not working. That said, it worked on this occasion. It appears that a wealthy Russian living in Russia was perhaps moving to Italy and he wanted to bring his customised Rolls-Royce with him. No doubt, disappointingly for him, he will now be without his vehicle but perhaps he might be allowed to undo what he did and have the vehicle reupholstered in allowed leather or fabric.
It’s interesting that it was seized by the Italian authorities (I presumed that it was seized in Italy rather than in Russia but I may be wrong). It would seem that in Russia they don’t pay much heed to the international treaty that I have referred to. This would not surprise me as they are considered to be a rogue nation with a predisposition to breaking international rules and norms as evidenced by their invasion of Crimea and their partial invasion of Ukraine and so on.
It should be added that the retrofitting and customisation looks horrible and it looks poorly fitted. It certainly does not add to the attractiveness of this vehicle. Quite the opposite in fact.
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