Mexico City, Mexico – Two people were arrested in Mexico as they attempted to traffic the more than 22,000 turtle eggs they were carrying on a public bus.

The arrest was made on a highway in the southern state of Oaxaca on an unspecified date by officers patrolling beaches where the turtles nest, Mexico’s environmental protection agency said in a communique.

The 22,470 eggs that were seized came from olive ridley sea turtles. The suspects were also transporting 105 turtle parts from the same species.

The olive ridley sea turtle is an endangered species protected by the Mexican government.

Recently, Mexican environmental groups reported that over the past six years some 7,000 loggerhead sea turtles have died in waters off the Baja California peninsula, presumably due to the impact of commercial fishing activities.

This species, also in danger of extinction, nests in Japan and reaches Mexican waters when it migrates.