The babilla, the python, the varanus lizard and the deer, which reproduces only once a year, were some of the endangered animals used by Nancy González, 52, from Cali, to make more than 40,000 bags that it sold in its exclusive boutiques in New York, Moscow, Milan and Taiwan, among other destinations only suitable for deep pockets.
A bag from the Colombian designer can cost between eight and 18 million pesos (2,000 and 4,250 dollars).
In dozens of interviews, González has explained that her bags are made from exotic skins.
His original designs, he explained in 2015 in Exclama magazine, make a difference thanks to the textures of his main raw material, crocodile skin.
'No pattern of the skins used is the same as the other,' said González.
What celebrities such as Kris Jenner, Britney Spears or Oprah Winfrey, who proudly paraded through the streets of New York and Los Angeles with designs that even appeared in productions such as the famous series
Sex
and the City , never imagined is that their exclusive luxury garments were made from endangered animals that the woman from Cali smuggled into the United States.
Last week, the Attorney General's Office captured three people requested in extradition for illegally sending to that country leather goods made with skins of exotic and endangered animals.
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At that time, the Police dismantled a business that González had been perfecting for years.
The designer was captured in her house in Valle del Cauca.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, González's company hired mules or human couriers in Valle del Cauca and convinced them to travel to the United States with the sole objective of carrying the items.
“When asked by the authorities, they should point out that they were gifts for family or friends.
In reality, the final destination of the products was luxury stores and internationally recognized exhibitions at events such as New York Fashion Week.
Each traveler received air tickets and $600 for living in the United States, according to police investigations.
This business has been operating like this for more than six years.
According to the director of the Carabineros Police, General Alejandro Barrera, this company during the years of 2013 and 2019 moved more than 40 million dollars in trafficking and commercialization of wild species.
The designer Nancy González captured by the National Police, in Valle del Cauca, on July 8, 2022. NATIONAL POLICE
González and the other two people are requested for extradition by the US because the bags did not have the permits of the environmental authorities and evaded the regulations established by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Due to these facts, a Court for the Southern District of Florida requires them to answer for charges that include conspiracy to import and bring wildlife to the United States against the law, fraud and smuggling of merchandise.
According to the authorities, these captures are the first result against this illegal form of trade that is achieved in Latin America.
The extraditables were transferred to Bogotá and will remain at the disposal of the Attorney General's Office while the procedures are carried out so that they respond to the United States justice system.
The designer must remain confined in the women's prison El Buen Pastor, in Bogotá, until the Supreme Court of Justice reviews the extradition request.
Nancy González shows off a bag designed by her company at Neiman Marcus, in Florida (USA), in 2008. Donna E. Natale Planas (Tribune News Service via Getty I)
González's bags are so famous internationally that in 2008 the Metropolitan Museum of New York included one of them among the 65 most outstanding items of fashion from the 18th century.
In one of the interviews she did for
Elle
magazine , González assured that her accomplice in her creative work is nature: "I always try to push the limits of what can be done with precious skins."
González started his business in Cali in 1989 after getting divorced.
She describes herself on her website as a petite, soft-spoken woman with immense determination to succeed.
The designer assures that her inspiration comes from Colombia and that her bags seek to celebrate the natural beauty and rich culture of the country.
Over the years, she ended up settling in New York after placing her bags next to such well-known brands as Chanel or Louis Vuitton.
Now, González faces justice for having gone far beyond what the law allows in his desire to cross limits.
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