Officials foil attempt to smuggle snakes
Officials foil attempt to smuggle snakes
JAKARTA (JP): Security officials at Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle eight
snakes, including one of the world's deadliest species worth
millions of rupiah, to Moscow.
The head of the airport's animal quarantine center Lukas A.
Tonga said on Wednesday that the suspected smuggler, a Russian
named Vladimir, was about to board Aeroflot Flight 566 last
Thursday evening when the airport security noticed moving items
in his bag through the X-ray monitoring screen.
After a brief check, quarantine officials found the Russian's
specially designed bag was filled with snakes, including three
hazardous Papuan Taipans (Oxyranus ocellata), which were unique
to Irian Jaya, Lukas said.
"This species of lethal snake could end the life of a human
being in seconds," one of the quarantine's veterinarian, Wawan
Sutian, told The Jakarta Post last night.
Besides the snakes, the officials also found 10 blue-tailed
lizards and several insects, including eight grasshoppers, inside
Vladimir's bag, Lukas said.
The Russian failed to show any appropriate documents to carry
the reptiles.
Similar to last month's finding, the airport's officials said
they failed to arrest the suspect as the Russian was already
boarding, Lukas added.
On Sept. 29, airport officials also foiled a similar attempt
to take out of the country a collection of 67 reptiles, including
pythons, monitors and turtles, which were about to be smuggled to
Singapore.
The alleged owner of the bag, Leong Kok Tieng, managed to fly
without being able to be touched by the airport authorities.
According to Wawan, he had no idea why Vladimir was trying to
take the other animals, the lizards and grasshoppers, to his
country.
"But all of the snakes are very expensive. The dreadful
taipans, for example, cost US$300 here in Indonesia," he said.
Taipans have killed a great number of people in Irian Jaya, he
explained.
Wawan speculated that Vladimir was going to sell the snakes'
poison as it could be converted into valuable antivenom.
"The price of the antivenom ranges between $250 and $1,000 per
ampule, depending upon the level of the poison," he said.
None of the animals in Vladimir's bag were protected species,
he added.
"But we're worried that their number in our country might
dwindle if we fail to do something to help this kind of
smuggling, which has shown a significant increase in the past few
months," Wawan said.
The illegal export and trade of such animals is forbidden
under Law No. 5/1990 on natural resources and ecosystem
conservation and Law No. 16/1992 on fish, animal and plant
quarantine.
Violators face a maximum sentence of three years in prison and
a Rp 150 million (US$17,000) fine. (bsr)