String of smuggling attempts foiled in Jakarta

Hundreds of turtles and lizards found

December 2011: A string of smuggling attempts have been stopped in Indonesia at the country's largest and busiest airport, including a case of three slow lorises stuffed into socks and hidden under a trafficker's clothes.

Officers at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have also reported the seizures of hundreds of turtles and lizards, and dozens of snakes, from smugglers attempting to import and export the animals.


Discovered lorises stuffed into man's socks
Authorities stopped a Saudi Arabian national who was about to board a flight and found three slow lorises stuffed into socks and tied under his clothes, TRAFFIC has been told. The primates are now under veterinary care.

On the same day authorities were shocked a second time to find 48 reptiles in two boxes. The animals had been stuffed into plastic tubes or covered in cloth inside the boxes belonging to a Russian national who was attempting to take the animals out of the country.

The suspect had packed 15 Salefin lizards, nine green tree pythons and eight Timor pythons Python timorensis. There were also seven emerald tree monitors, three peach-throat monitors, two each of New Guinea monitor lizardss, black tree monitors and blue-spotted tree monitors. At least 12 animals in the shipment were dead by the time they were found.

One smuggler brought in 10 Nile crocodiles
Earlier in the month, a man was arrested for illegally importing 464 tortoises, 10 Nile crocodiles, 78 snakes and 254 lizards. Among the tortoises were about 100 Egyptian Tortoises and of the lizards confiscated a number were the Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard, a species heavily traded as an exotic pet. The animals were packed in bags and hidden in suitcases which had come into the country on a flight from Egypt.

Almost 30 per cent of the animals were dead when authorities opened the man's bag to reveal the stunning array of smuggled reptiles hidden within. Those that survived are currently under the care of the Quarantine Department and the suspect is under investigation.

Air travel is being used to traffic animals quickly
Airport officials were again successful in stopping a smuggler and his shipment of 61 Indian star tortoises and African spurred tortoises and two snakes, packed in suitcases. At least some of the tortoises, which came in a shipment originating in Thailand, were packed in plastic detergent containers. Authorities are seeking assistance to repatriate the animals.

‘These seizures highlight two crucial problems that need urgent attention-the phenomenal scale of the trade through Soekarno-Hatta International airport and how air travel is being used to traffic wildlife rapidly across the globe,' said Chris Shepherd, deputy regional director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

‘But they also point to an encouraging trend, one where Customs, Quarantine and Airport security are stepping up efforts against illegal wildlife trade. TRAFFIC strongly urges Indonesia to ensure these enforcement efforts are followed through with thorough investigations down the entire trade chain and end in the conviction of the criminals involved,' he added.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/smuggling-wildlife2011.html