PIA steward nabbed for smuggling cockatoos
TANGERANG (JP): A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight attendant has been arrested by Soekarno-Hatta International Airport officers for attempting to smuggle two black cockatoos to Karachi, an official said yesterday.
The black cockatoo is a protected species.
Airport quarantine head Lukas A. Tonga told The Jakarta Post that Pakistani Khalid Azeem, 39, was apprehended at about 6 p.m. Tuesday at the departure gate of Terminal D.
"The PIA flight attendant was on his way to board the PIA flight to Karachi which was scheduled to take off at 8 p.m. when officers saw something strange in the X-ray of his black bag," Lukas said.
When examining the bag, the airport officers found the two rare birds wrapped in a dark T-shirt, he said.
According to Lukas, the two Probosciger aterrimus, locally known as alkai raja or kakatua hitam, are worth between US$1,500 and $2,000 each on black markets overseas.
"Here in Indonesia, people can illegally purchase the protected birds for only hundreds of thousands of rupiah each," he said.
For child
According to Gabriel Hayon, one of Lukas' subordinates that took part in the arrest together with the airport's customs and excise officers, Azeem admitted that he bought the birds for his two-year-old child in Karachi.
"He said he purchased the birds from unknown people in Bali a few days ago," Gabriel said.
Azeem, however, did not say how much he paid.
"The suspect said he was in Indonesia for a week-long vacation and spent a few days in Bali and then stayed at the Ibis hotel in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, until Tuesday," Gabriel said.
After hours of questioning, Azeem was transferred to Tangerang Police Station for further investigation.
"The two birds will remain with us until we get clarification from the police to send them to either Taman Safari park (in Cisarua) or Ragunan Zoo (in South Jakarta) for care," Lukas said.
The export and trade of the bird is forbidden under Law No.5/1990 for Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation.
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 said.
According to Lukas, Azeem was traveling on Pakistani passport number B 171980 issued in Karachi.
When asked for confirmation of his status, none of the PIA staff here was willing to comment.
"I don't know ... I don't know about that," replied senior PIA staffer Siska.
Last Saturday, airport officers also foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,024 cobras, which are also protected animals under Indonesian law.
Kept in 54 boxes labeled "live eels inside", the snakes were about to be loaded on board Singapore Airlines flight SQ163 to China.
A 40-year-old man, Arifin, who handled the cargo's documents was put into police custody. (bsr)