Man arrested for smuggling 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings

As usual, I went for my morning jog and I would buy the papers afterwards. As usual, I would buy the News Strait Times and The Star newsparpers. Today was different and for the first time, I bought KOSMO! Ahad, another local newspaper that is written in Bahasa Malaysia. What caught my attention was a picture of handful of green sea turtle hatchlings with the heading reading out "Luggage secretly containing a thousand sea turtles". I couldn't believe what the KOSMO! had reported that I to confirm the story from their source, which is Bernama (also known as the Malaysian National News Agency). The online article had a short summary of the full length story (Lelaki ditahan dengan 1,000 anak penyu). Unfortunately, Bernama did not published the article in english, so I've done the liberty of translating the article from KOSMO! Ahad. I've also attached the original prinout of the story at the very bottom of this post.

 

Now we can add another human activity that threatens the sea turtles in Malaysia: sea turtle hatchling smuggling. 

 

"Man arrested for smuggling 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings"

CHENNAI - Chennai Customs officials arrested an Indian that often travels to Malaysia and

 Singapore for illegally smuggling 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings and 25 ornament fishes transit via Singapore.

Chennai Customs officials arrested Abdul Wahab, 35, from Kolathur (South India) when he arrived at Anna International Airport with the smuggled items on 4th June.

"We intercept the passenger in the Green Channel lane because the suspect carried banned goods.

"The passenger arrived from Singpaore and we examined his luggage to f

ind 25 live ornament fish found in polythene bags filled with water and oxygen together along with 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings that were placed in four red plastic baskets," said R. Periasami, Public Relations Officer of Chennai Customs, Anna International Airport.

He also said the ornament fishes and the sea turtle hatchlings are worth a total of RM 6,700 (US $1,900).

When contacted by Bernama, he said the suspect might have been paid by the syndicate that carries out the smuggling activities from one country to another.

Importing ornament fish and live sea turtles requires permit from Directer General Foreign Trade(DGFT)  and Department of Animal Quarantine.

The smuggled sea turtle hatchlings and ornament fishes will b

e transported back to Singapore.

Meanwhile in Kuala Lumpur, Chief Executive Officer of World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia, Datuk Dr. Dionysius S.K. Sharkma, when contacted by Kosmo! Ahad did not ruled out the possibility of a syndicate involved with the incubation of the sea turtles eggs before being smuggled out of the country.

He said that although smuggling sea turtles out of Malaysia are difficult, the sea turtle eggs can be taken away to be hatched.

“Usually each nest will have about 100 sea turtle eggs, so when someone smuggles a thousand sea turtle hatchlings, this would require about 10 to 15 nests,” he said.

At Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre (TUMEC) in Terengganu, Abdul Razak Latun said that the sea turtle hatchlings may have originated from Tioman island or Johor territorial waters.

He also did not rule out the possibility that the syndicate made Singapore as its transit point to smuggle sea turtle hatchlings from other neighboring countries.

He said those who trade in sea turtles can arrested under Fisheries Act 1985. If guilty, they can be charged with RM 20,000 (US $5,600) fine or two years imprisonment or both. 

Front Page Cover

Inside Story (page 3)

FIGURE: Showing the path of the sea turtles smuggled from Malaysia to Chennai, India via Singapore.