Airport customs official seize 1,020 snakes
JAKARTA (JP): Soekarno-Hatta International Airport customs and excise officers and the airport animal quarantine center have foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,020 cobra snakes to China, an official said yesterday.
The head of the quarantine center, Lukas A. Tonga, told a news conference that the smuggling attempt was uncovered Saturday night after the officers became suspicious over the contents of 54 boxes in which the naja saputrix snakes were being transported.
The boxes were about to be loaded on board Singapore Airline flight SQ-163 to China. The freight documents, PEBT No. 029569 dated July 25 and AWB No. 618 1019 9943, stated that the boxes contained live eels weighing in at 874 kilograms, Lukas said.
PT Jibatani Karsa was listed as the exporter.
"When the boxes went into the x-ray, the officers became suspicious when they saw that the movement of the animals were different from usual. They were more active.
"The officers then opened two of the boxes and found live cobras," Lukas said.
The officers arrested Zaenal Arifin, 40, a broker who was handling the cargo's documents. He was questioned by Soekarno- Hatta Airport Police.
"Hopefully we can gain more information from him since he may be able to lead us to the responsible party in this case," Lukas said.
Cobras sell well in China where prices can reach an equivalent of Rp 150,000 per kilogram. Indonesian sale prices are set at between Rp 5,000 and Rp 10,000 for each snake, depending on its size, Lukas said.
Head of Soekarno-Hatta customs and excise office Heru Santoso said that the confiscation would cost the smugglers some Rp 190 million in losses.
Expensive
"Cobras are a very expensive commodity abroad. Besides using the meat and the skin, people also use its poison as a medicine," Heru said.
The snake is a protected species here and its export and trade are forbidden under Law No.5/1990 for Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation.
"Besides that, the species is also regulated under Law No.16/1992 for fish, animal and plant quarantine. Violators face a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a Rp 150 million fine," Lukas added.
The brown-black cobras were transferred yesterday to Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta for temporary care.
"We could not keep them too long because the environment is not conducive here," he said.
Airport customs officers foiled an attempt to smuggle 15 boxes of Windu shrimp, weighing a total of 164 kilograms, on June 15.
Customs officials confiscated a total of 750 kilograms of Windu shrimp, 3,745 King Cobra snakes and 3,384 Jali snakes during the period of 1995 through 1997. (edt/41)