Exotic animals likely smuggled using cargo service: Officer

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

A Czech man arrested at Prague's international airport with 115 exotic animals in his luggage from Indonesia, used the airport cargo service to transport the animals, the airport operator said.

"The man had to have used the cargo service because it would be impossible for him to carry the animals through the passenger terminal," Soekarno-Hatta International Airport operator PT Angkasa Pura spokesman Syahrial Syam told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

AFP reported the 43-year-old man, who returned from holidays in Indonesia on Wednesday, carried in his suitcases 22 water lizards, 19 small pythons and 74 tortoises. He left the country from Soekarno-Hatta.

The man faces charges for violating laws under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

"Customs and excise officers are responsible for monitoring passengers' baggage in the cargo warehouse. They must have thorough control of all baggage taken through to the ground- handling services," Syahrial said.

He said the officers were usually assisted by officers from the animal quarantine center and the Ministry of Forestry at the cargo warehouse.

"Officers in the cargo areas don't have any devices to detect animals. Besides, cargo officers are rarely present so animal smuggling is prone to happen," he added.

PT Angkasa Pura had proposed customs and excise provide officers with devices to monitor passengers' baggage in the cargo areas but it had not, he said.

Edi Prasetyono, a veterinarian at the airport's animal quarantine center, said officers in the center did not have access to check baggage in the cargo areas.

He suggested forestry officers be placed in every entrance at airport terminals and should coordinate with customs to curb possible animal smuggling.

"This (procedure) has been clearly stipulated in the law No. 10/95 on animal conservation," Edi said, adding that quarantine officers usually liaised with customs to put any smuggled animals they found into quarantine.

Airport customs officers were not available for comment.