Malaysia: Customs seizes 288kg of pangolin scales worth RM3.8mil

JO TIMBUONG The Star 13 Jun 17;

SEPANG: The Customs Department has seized a 288kg shipment of pangolin scales worth RM3.68mil bound for a fake address in Ampang.

Customs assistant director-general (enforcement) Datuk Paddy Abd Halim said the seizure was made last Friday at an air cargo warehouse at the KLIA Free Trade Zone.

"The consignment came in from Ghana and was marked as oyster shells on the air waybill," he said.

He also said the department is investigating whether the scales were destined for the local or international market.

The scales will be handed over to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) for further action.

He said this was the third shipment of pangolin scales intercepted this year.

Last month, the department seized 712kg of pangolin scales worth RM9.18mil in shipments from Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The import of pangolin scales without a permit is illegal and offenders face a maximum fine of up to 20 times the value of the seized items, jail time not exceeding three years or both.

Pangolin scales are often used in traditional medicine and are believed to be a cure for illnesses such as malaria.


More pangolin scales seized
JO TIMBUONG The Star 14 Jun 17;

SEPANG: The Customs Depart­ment’s largest seizure of pangolin scales last month has not deterred wildlife smugglers from trying to sneak in another batch of the illicit cargo through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Smugglers tried to hoodwink enforcers by labelling the consignment as oyster shells on the airway bill and gave a fake address. However, their attempt to avoid detection was foiled after Customs officers received a tip-off.

Last Friday morning, enforcers found 288kg of the scales packed in gunny sacks and inside 12 cardboard boxes in an air cargo warehouse at the KLIA Free Trade Zone.

Customs Department assistant director-general (enforcement) Datuk Paddy Abd Halim said the scales were worth about RM3.68mil.

“This is the third seizure of pangolin scales at KLIA this year after last month’s operations,” he told reporters.

He said the scales came from Ghana and were addressed to a bogus location in Ampang.

Despite Kuala Lumpur being marked as the final destination, enforcers were unsure whether they were destined for the local or international market.

Paddy said enforcers were trying to determine whether a different syndicate was behind the latest smuggling attempt.

“The modus operandi seems to be the same but a different syndicate could be behind this new attempt. This is also part of our investigation,” he said.

Paddy said the scales would be handed over to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) for further action.

The import of pangolin scales without a permit is illegal under Schedule Three of the International Trade Act on Threatened Species 2008.

The case is being investigated under Section 135(1) of the Customs Act 1967 for smuggling prohibited goods.

Offenders could face a maximum fine up to 20 times the value of the seized items or jail time not exceeding three years or both.

Last month, Customs seized 712kg of the scales worth at least RM9.18mil, which came from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana.

A full-grown pangolin is said to have about 500g of scales which can fetch more than RM1,000 in the black market.

“Pangolin scales are used in traditional medicine to treat various ailments but there are no scientific facts to back this claim,” Paddy added.


Malaysia makes third major pangolin scale seizure in a month
WWF Malaysia 13 Jun 17;

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 13th June 2017–For the third time in just over a month, Malaysian authorities have seized a large shipment of pangolin scales inbound from Africa. This latest seizure brings the total weight of confiscated scales so far to a tonne.

On 9th June the Royal Malaysian Customs Department discovered 288kg of pangolin scales in 12 boxes at the air cargo warehouse in Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Free Trade Zone. The shipment, originating from Accra, Ghana, was falsely labelled as oyster shells.

Although Malaysia was specified as the final destination, the address in Ampang listed on the airway bill was found to be fake, said Dato’ Paddy Bin Abd Halim, Malaysia’s Customs Assistant Director General for Enforcement, at a press conference today.

No arrests have yet been made and investigations continue under Section 135 (1) (a) of the Customs Act 1967.

The latest seizure marks the third large-scale pangolin scale interception in Malaysia in just over a month, reinforcing previous indications that the country is of significant concern within trafficking trade chains

Last year, TRAFFIC and the University of Adelaide published a study that confirmed the widely-agreed consensus of a dramatic switch from Asian to African pangolin species in trade over a 38-year period between 1977 and 2014. Analysis showed that 79% of the scales recorded in trade since 2010 were from African pangolins.

“Malaysian Customs has intercepted an alarming volume of wildlife contraband from Africa since April this year, and for this we congratulate them,” said Kanitha Krishnasamy, Senior Programme Manager for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia.

“However, multiple shipments comprising of rhino horns, pangolin scales and live Critically Endangered tortoises – all of them listed in CITES Appendix I – entering Malaysia signifies a very worrying pattern; that traffickers feel they can continuously move their contraband through the country”.

On 2nd May Customs officers at the same airport seized a 408kg shipment from Ghana that transited through Dubai on its way to Kuala Lumpur. A second shipment weighing 304kg from Democratic Republic of Congo that passed through Kenya and Dubai was seized just two days later in Kuala Lumpur. In the previous month, Customs seized 18 rhino horns from Mozambique.

Dato’ Paddy told reporters that although two of the shipments came from Ghana, it did not necessarily mean they were both from the same sender or syndicate.

“We hope this level of enforcement effort will continue,” said Dr Chris R. Shepherd, Regional Director for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia. “More importantly, investigative work at national and international levels needs to be stepped up to put the perpetrators behind these transactions out of business for good.”

Pangolins are among the most trafficked mammals in the world and the scales remain in high demand for use in traditional medicines, especially in China.

Due to the tremendous pressure from illegal trade, over 180 nations at the CITES[1] summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2016 agreed to a ban of the international trade in all eight pangolin species by listing them on CITES Appendix I.

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Malaysia: Wild sun bear rescued from drain in Seremban housing area

Nur Aqidah Azizi New Straits Times 14 Jun 17;

SEREMBAN: A wild sun bear was rescued after it became trapped in a drain at a housing area in Taman PJ here on Monday.

The bear is believed to have become lost after wandering out from a nearby forest.

The animal was discovered by a resident, who then alerted the authorities.

State Civil Defence Force (APM) Regional Disaster Operations Officer, Lieutenant (PA) Mohd Najib Abdul Karim said the department deployed several personnel to rescue the bear, which weighed 25kg.

“We managed to remove it from the two-metre deep drain and transfer it to a cage.

“Although the bear was aggressive and tried to escape, it didn’t attack anyone from the team during the rescue mission. We believe the bear came from the woods near the housing area,” he said.

He said the bear was unhurt in the process. It has been sent to the Wildlife and National Parks Department for further action.

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Malaysia: No more plastic bags in Johor supermarkets

The Star 14 Jun 17;

JOHOR BARU: All hypermarkets and supermarkets in Johor have to replace their plastic bags and polystyrene containers with biodegradable ones beginning July 1.

State Health, Environment, Education and Information Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat said hypermarkets were supposed to have done this early this month but it was postponed due to Ramadan and Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

“This is among the first steps by the state government to make Johor plastic and polystyrene-free starting from Jan 1, 2018,” he said after launching Iskandar Malaysia Ecolife Challenge (IMELC) 2017 at the Johor Education Department yesterday.

He said Johor Biotechnology and Biodiversity Corp (J-Biotech) was appointed as an anchor in implementing the use of biodegradable products.

“J-Biotech is in the midst of finding a proper mechanism and is discussing with supermarkets and hypermarkets.

“Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin will make an announcement on how we will implement it at the next state Budget tabling,” he added.

Ayub said he did not see any problem with the stores complying with the state ruling.

He reminded the community to bring along their own bags when shopping for groceries.

On the event, Ayub said IMELC’s main objective was to protect the environment under the Low Carbon Society Blueprint for Iskandar Malaysia 2025.

He added that the plan was to make Iskandar Malaysia a developed economic corridor with low carbon emission of 58% until 2025.

Since the IMELC was introduced four years ago, 77 primary schools within the Iskandar area had dramatically lowered their water and electricity bills, he said.

“This year, the programme has been expanded to 346 schools involving 34,000 students and I believe Iskandar will be a low carbon society,” he added.



Johor’s switch to biodegradable food containers gains support
The Star 17 Jun 17;

JOHOR BARU: Food and beverage operators are supporting the state government’s biodegradable-containers-only policy which will take effect on July 1, with some already introducing such containers to customers.

Food stall owner Rozita Ramli, 53, who has been running her business at Taman Maju Jaya for the past 14 years, said her customers were getting used to the biodegradable plastic containers.

She started using them this month.

“Despite the containers costing more, we are supporting the state government’s initiative against the use of polystyrene due to its harmful effects.

“The biodegradable products are not only safer to use but also slightly larger and microwaveable, she said yesterday.

She said the green containers were being sold at about three times the price of the polys­tyrene type. A pack of 100 polystyrene containers is about RM7 while the biodegradable ones are RM22.

Rozita said it was harder to get supplies of the biodegradable containers now but she expected this to change soon, with the price dropping as well.

The containers are cheaper in the states that adopted the green-containers-only policy, such as Penang and Melaka, said Rozita.

Restaurant owner Ng Yaw Kwang, 35, agreed that the banning of polystyrene containers was a good move.

“It is also better for the environment,” he said.

It was reported that all hypermarkets and supermarkets in Johor have to replace their plastic bags and polystyrene containers with biodegradable ones from July 1.

This was announced as the state government’s first step towards making Johor polystyrene-free by 2018.

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Fire breaks out at crude oil refinery on Jurong Island

Today Online 13 Jun 17;

SINGAPORE – A fire broke out at a crude oil refinery on Jurong Island on Tuesday (June 13).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the fire occurred within a crude distillation unit at the Singapore Refining Company's (SRC) premises on 1 Merlimau Road.

Firefighters from SCDF and the company's in-house emergency response team took over an hour to put out the flames. No injuries were reported.

SCDF said they were alerted to the incident at 9.50am. The SRC’s response team was also immediately activated, and deployed water monitors and several large capacity fire extinguishers to fight the fire.

Several videos posted by Facebook users showed black plumes of smoke rising up beside refinery chimneys.

The SCDF said that the fire at the refinery was extinguished at around 11.10am.

The SRC has yet to comment on the cause of the incident.


Fire breaks out at Jurong Island, no injuries reported
Channel NewsAsia 13 Jun 17;

In a Facebook post, the Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received reports of a blaze at 1, Merlimau Road, where oil refinery Singapore Refining Company is located at about 9.50am. There were no reported injuries.

In a later update, SCDF said the fire occurred within a crude distillation unit. As of 11.10am, the fire had been extinguished by SCDF and the in-house emergency team, using ground monitors and several handheld jets. SCDF is carrying out foaming operations, it added.

SCDF added that company's emergency response team was activated when its fire alarm sounded. It also deployed water monitors and several large capacity fire extinguishers to mitigate the fire.

An eyewitness who declined to be named said he saw "thick black smoke" from Jurong Port at about 9.50am, but did not see flames. "The smoke subsided after awhile. Minutes later, it started again," he said.

Photos and videos of the incident have been posted on social media, which showed plumes of black smoke rising up next to refinery chimneys.

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Malaysia: Endangered wildlife in Sabah to get extra protection

The Star 13 Jun 17;

KOTA KINABALU: Following the death of one of its three Sumatran rhinos, Sabah will go all out to protect its remaining endangered animals, starting with the Sunda clouded leopard next.

The leopard is endemic to Sabah.

“We do not want to come down to a similar situation where we only start getting serious when there is only a few of a species left, it will be a bit too late then,” said Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming.

The state suffered a huge blow to its conservation efforts when one of the last three remaining rhinos was euthanised due to cancer earlier this month, he added.

The flora and fauna of Sabah were the gems that attracted visitors here, bringing in income, Pang said when opening a workshop on ways to protect the species here yesterday.

The workshop, which ends tomorrow, is organised by the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) and Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD).

An action plan to protect the Sunda clouded leopard is expected to be drawn up following recommendations based on findings of a five-year extensive research on the animals conducted by DGFC and SWD.

Pang said DGFC – a collaborative research and training facility managed by the Sabah Wildlife Department and Cardiff University – had identified the Sunda clouded leopard to focus on this time.

Pang said tourists from China (being the most number of visitors coming to Sabah) are showing more interest in nature and related tourisms.

He added that the Sabah Parks would be increasing its conservation tax “very soon” in view of its needs to have more programmes towards the protection of the environment.

DGFC director Dr Benoit Goossens said the Sunda clouded leopard deserved its fair share of attention as there are only about 700 left in the wild.

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Mangroves, coral reefs could cut flood insurance premiums: Lloyd's

Reuters 12 Jun 17;

Natural coastal habitats such as mangroves, coral reefs and salt marshes protect communities more effectively against coastal storms than seawalls, and insurers should consider this when pricing flood risk, Lloyd's of London said.

Investment to conserve natural habitats also makes sense for insurers, a report written for Lloyd's said on Tuesday, as it is around 30 times cheaper than building seawalls.

Insurers have paid out more than $200 billion in claims for damages due to coastal floods in the past 10 years.

But they could reduce the amount they pay in claims and offer lower premiums if they considered the impact of natural infrastructure.

"If you are in a more resilient city, compared to a less resilient one, then those risk levels should be taken into account in pricing," said Trevor Maynard, head of innovation at Lloyd's.

Insurers should invest more in habitat conservation to reduce the risks from coastal floods, the report, by the Center for the Blue Economy, the University of California, Santa Cruz and The Nature Conservancy, said.

"Flood risk reduction should be undertaken before the flood occurs, but we currently spend much more on recovery efforts than on risk reduction."

Coastal wetlands remaining in the northeast of the United States saved more than $625 million in flood damages from Hurricane Sandy, around 1 percent of the total flood damages from the 2012 hurricane, previous research for Lloyd's has shown.

Public and private sector financing to support natural infrastructure is increasing, but "the availability is geographically uneven," the report said.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn, editing by Louise Heavens)

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Global effort busts wildlife smugglers

International cast, including AVA, work to nab suspected kingpin and key players
Zaihan Mohamed Yusof Straits Times 12 Jun 17;

After three years, the suspected kingpin behind the smuggling of wildlife parts out of Africa has been arrested near the Kenya-Uganda border recently.

The international operation started in Singapore.

In March 2014, the authorities here seized a 1-tonne shipment of elephant tusks on its way to Laos.

The Straits Times learnt that the tusks had been moved from Uganda to Kenya before an attempt was made to ship them through Singapore.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) alerted the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, an inter-governmental organisation based in Africa tasked with tackling the illegal wildlife trade. AVA provided the container number and port of departure, among other details.

A pattern began to form after more shipments of elephant tusks were seized in Vietnam and Thailand in 2015. According to Freeland, a Bangkok-based counter- trafficking organisation, 32 tonnes of ivory, originating from East and West African ports, were seized in South-east Asia.


At an estimated US$2,000 (S$2,770) for a kilogram of elephant tusk, the seizures would have had a street value of $86 million.

They all led to one syndicate and Gakou Fodie, a suspected major smuggler involved in several cases, including the shipment of 6 tonnes of pangolin scales to Asia. An international cast of law enforcement and Customs agencies, including AVA and Freeland, went into overdrive.

Arrests were made in Africa last year and early this year, related to the seizures in Thailand and Vietnam. The behind-the-scenes cooperation, which also involved Interpol and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, culminated in the arrests of seven key players who were allegedly behind the shipment to Singapore.

And between April and this month, the authorities in Africa moved in on Fodie, arresting him near the Kenya-Uganda border before he was extradited just a few days ago to Tanzania, where the case against him is stronger.

In a telephone interview with The Straits Times, Mr Steven Galster, 55, founder of Freeland, commended AVA officials. "The Singapore officials were some of the first to say 'yes' to (the joint investigation). They did not need any prompting from us. They did that on their own."

Dr Chua Tze Hoong, group director of the Quarantine Inspection Group at AVA, said clamping down on illegal wildlife trafficking requires government agencies and non-governmental organisations to work together.

"Singapore seriously assesses intelligence reports or tip-offs from our partners.

"This has resulted in several seizures such as this case, in which the collaboration between countries and various parties contributed to the success of the operations," he said.

Poaching and smuggling of rhino horns, pangolin scales, wildcat skins and elephant tusks are driving wildlife populations down.

Some wildlife parts are used in traditional medicine while others like elephant tusks, when skilfully carved into decorations, can cost as much as US$300,000 each, said Mr Galster, who has seen high-end works in Beijing, China.

Part of the challenge is to get "transit and consumer" countries to step up.

Mr Galster said: "People are desensitised when they see these (wildlife shipment) seizures and they don't realise that these are the result of serial murder. It's a bunch of animals killed."

However, traffickers are known to be crafty. They would label a consignment of elephant tusks as coffee beans or tea leaves, said Mr Galster.

He added: "They (traffickers) may also change the country of origin by having containers shipped to one place first where they change the Bill of Lading to show the transit country is now country of origin. So a Customs officer in the receiving country would be less suspicious, not knowing the cargo originated in Africa."

In the end, it was the investigators' perseverance and advanced investigation trainingthat proved vital in bringing down the syndicate, said Mr Galster.

The investigators began to see more links to wildlife suppliers after using digital forensics software in their probe. Using raw data, the software analyses and spots trends and patterns.

The suspects arrested included a senior Kenyan Customs official, several shipping agents and high-level traffickers who played a role in smuggling the illegal consignment to Singapore. They are also linked to other wildlife crimes.


By the numbers

A rhinoceros is killed every seven hours, according to Freeland, a counter-trafficking organisation based in Bangkok.

Rhinoceros are prized for their horns and bones as they are used in traditional medicine or for decorative purposes.

Even more frequently, an elephant is killed every hour.

Each year, an estimated 20,000 elephants are killed for their tusks, which can fetch about US$2,000 (S$2,760) per kg in the black market.

Freeland founder Steven Galster told The Straits Times that trading in African elephant tusks is worth US$400 million a year.

A meeting of the United Nations' Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in Johannesburg last October reported that roughly 30 per cent of Africa's elephants have disappeared in the last seven years. Its population in 2016 was estimated at 473,000.

But the most threatened creature is the pangolin.

It is the most trafficked mammal, with over one million poached in the past decade.

Under Cites, all commercial trade in pangolins is banned.

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Indonesian police foil attempt to smuggle 200,000 lobster eggs into Singapore

Channel NewsAsia 12 Jun 17;

JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities foiled an attempt to illegally export more than 200,000 lobster eggs into Singapore through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, reported the Jakarta Post on Sunday (Jun 11).

The suspects had attempted to deliver a big part of the goods via a Garuda Indonesia flight to Singapore.

According to tribunnews.com, Indonesia's National Police Special Crimes Directorate Chief Brigadier General Purwadi Arianto said: "We confiscated 208,756 lobster eggs inside eight suitcases."

If the smuggling attempt had been successful, state losses could have reached US$2.4 million, the official added.

Police are questioning two individuals identified as AM and WHY, according to the Jakarta Post. AM has been named a suspect in the case while WHY is being treated as a witness.


Police thwart attempt to smuggle 200k lobster eggs to Singapore
The Jakarta Post 11 Jun 17;

The National Police’s Special Crimes Directorate has foiled an attempt to illegally export lobster eggs worth billions of rupiah to Singapore via Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten.

“We confiscated 208,756 lobster eggs inside eight suitcases,” said directorate chief Brig. Gen. Purwadi Arianto as quoted by tribunnews.com on Sunday.

Had the smuggling attempt been successful, state losses could have reached Rp 31.3 billion (US$ 2.4 million), Purwadi said, adding that the police had questioned two persons, identified as AM and WHY, in relation to the case.

AM was attempting to board a Garuda Indonesia flight to Singapore carrying 169,136 lobster eggs in six suitcases, while WHY took Lion Air flight departing from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, carrying 39,620 lobster eggs to Soekarno-Hatta, from where he intended to continue traveling to Singapore.

From the police’s preliminary investigations, they suspect that AM ordered WHY to carry the lobster eggs. Police have named AM a suspect in the case, while WHY’s status so far remains that of a witness.

Besides lobster eggs, the police also confiscated one passport, two mobile phones, Rp 7.1 million and S$525 in cash, boarding passes and luggage claim tags.

AM is being charged with violating Law No. 31/2004 on fisheries, Law No. 16/1992 on quarantine, animals and plants and the Criminal Code.

The police in cooperation with other agencies, including customs, aviation security, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s National Fish Quarantine, Quality Control and Fishery Product Safety Agency (BKIPM), have released the lobster eggs on Carita Beach in Banten, keeping only 256 as evidence. (wnd/dmr)

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Malaysia: Crocodile myth boosting illegal trade

Compiled by RAHIMY RAHIM, NG SI HOOI and R. ARAVINTHAN The Star 12 Jun 17;

THE myth that crocodile parts boast aphrodisiac qualities has led to the illegal trading of the reptile, with some being sold for up to RM100,000 on the black market, Metro Ahad reported.

Based on an investigation by the Peninsular Malaysia Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan), the current price of a crocodile is far more expensive than a tiger, as its scaly skin, meat, tail and even its gall bladder can be sold at lucrative prices.

Many still believe that crocodile teeth can be used as a good luck charm while its private parts can be an aphrodisiac, which makes the parts popular. In its latest operation, Perhilitan raided a place at Old Klang Road that traded crocodile organs.

During the raid, the team led by enforcement officer Celescoriano Razond found that the owner of the premises kept various crocodile organs believed to be acquired illegally.

“We confiscated six crocodile skulls and 24 completely preserved saltwater crocodiles. We also found a piece of crocodile skin, crocodile leather belt, and 10 handbags believed to be made from crocodile skin,” he said.

A total of 693 plastic bags of saltwater crocodile meat, 79 plastic bags of crocodile feet, eight bags of crocodile tail, and 190 plastic bags of dried crocodile meat were confiscated.

Apart from that, 24 gall bladders, 37 crocodile private parts, 350 crocodile teeth, and 12 keychains believed to made from saltwater crocodiles skin were also seized.

All of the items would be taken to the Perhilitan headquarters for further action, said Razond.

“We do not rule out the possibility that the items would have been smuggled to Hong Kong, Taiwan or China,” he said.

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