P.Vijian, Bernama 17 May 08;
CHENNAI, May 17 (Bernama) -- A Sri Lankan air passenger carrying 235 live star tortoises in his baggage from Chennai enroute to Kuala Lumpur via Colombo was detained at the city's airport yesterday.
Chennai Airport Air Intelligence Unit intercepted the suspect, Mohamed Mohideen Mohamed Murshit, after a tip-off and found the wildlife stock consigned to an unknown buyer in Malaysia.
"We detained him after a tip-off and discovered 235 live tortoises hidden in his baggage. The passenger and the tortoises have been handed over to the wildlife authorities," Commissioner of Customs (Airport) C. Rajan told Bernama.
He said the 26-year-old passenger, who was about to board a Sri Lankan Airline, admitted to the authorities he was merely a carrier but did not divulge further details.
The wildlife stock was valued at about RM30,000.
The Indian star tortoises, one of the most sought after wildlife species, are often smuggled out to Southeast Asian markets where they end up as highly prized pets or killed for their medicinal values.
Most of these tortoises are poached from coastal areas in Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and sneaked out of Mumbai and Chennai airports to Malaysia, where they are sold at high prices, according to Indian investigators.
A recent Times of India report said, from January 2007 until this April, a total of 5,300 star tortoises worth nearly RM500,000 were seized from Chennai Airport alone, all meant for buyers in Kuala Lumpur.
"Despite a ban on trade in the species, every year thousands of them are smuggled out to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand through Chennai, which is being increasingly used as a transit point by traffickers," added the paper.
--BERNAMA
