Airport authorities foil animal smuggling attempt<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Soekarno-Hatta International Airport officials
\nhave foiled an attempt to smuggle a collection of reptiles,
\npythons, monitors and turtles out of the country, an official
\nsaid on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Airport quarantine director Lukas A. Tonga said the animals
\nhad been packed in an unlocked bag, which was about to be loaded
\nonto Garuda Indonesia flight 830, scheduled to depart for
\nSingapore at 5:05 p.m. on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"The loaders became suspicious of the bag's contents after
\nthey detected something moving inside, so they reported it to the
\nairport's security guards,\" Lukas said.<\/p>\n
The quarantine office, which received the report over two
\nhours later, was informed by airport security that the owner
\ncould not be arrested since he was already on board the plane, he
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
One of Lukas' subordinates, Gabriel Hayon, quoted the airport
\nofficers as saying that the owner of the bag was identified as
\nLeong Kok Tieng, who held a Malaysian passport with the number A
\n6105296.<\/p>\n
\"His identity was traced from the baggage tag,\" Gabriel told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He was not certain why airport officers could not ask Tieng to
\nget off the plane for questioning.<\/p>\n
\"This is not only about smuggling and damaging our country's
\nenvironment. The owner could also be charged for endangering
\nother people's lives since he was carrying dangerous animals,
\nlike pythons, in an unlocked bag on a plane,\" Gabriel said.<\/p>\n
\"With the absence of a padlock, the bag could have opened at
\nanytime and the animals could have escaped and bitten one of the
\npassengers on board,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
According to Lukas, all of the animals, most of which were
\nyoung, were kept in separate cardboard and plastic boxes and
\ncloth pouches inside the bag.<\/p>\n
\"The bag is just like an ordinary sports bag,\" Gabriel added.<\/p>\n
The boxes inside the bag contained 10 pythons -- including
\nfive green pythons, which are a protected species -- a Papuan
\ntree boa, a King cobra, two monitors, two dry land turtles, two
\nsmall porcupines, 46 lizards and three frogs, Lukas said.<\/p>\n
Gabriel said some of the snakes and lizards had died while
\nbeing kept in the quarantine office.<\/p>\n
\"We hope the case can be quickly resolved so we can send them
\nto Taman Safari park (in Cisarua) soon. The protected species
\nwill be sent to the Forest Protection and Nature Conservation
\nDirectorate,\" he said, after saying he was worried about properly
\nfeeding the animals.<\/p>\n
Lukas said he believed the animals had been collected by the
\nMalaysian from areas in the eastern part of Indonesia, where they
\nwere worth as much as Rp 10 million.<\/p>\n
\"But they could be sold abroad for about Rp 100 million,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The illegal export and trade of such animals is forbidden
\nunder Law No. 5\/1990 for natural resources and ecosystem
\nconservation and Law No. 16\/1992 for fish, animal and plant
\nquarantine.<\/p>\n
Violators face a maximum sentence of three years in prison and
\na Rp 150 million fine. (bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/airport-authorities-foil-animal-smuggling-attempt-1447893297",
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