RI citizen jailed for smuggling

RI citizen jailed for smuggling

SINGAPORE: An Indonesian boat captain has been jailed for three months for trying to smuggle some 40,000 reticulated python and monitor lizard skins worth US$481,000 into Singapore, local media reported on Wednesday.

Abdul Rahman, who transported the skins from Jambi, Sumatra island, was also fined US$3,000, The Straits Times said.

Reticulated pythons and monitor lizards are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and traders must hold a permit to import or export their skins.

Singapore authorities said they have intercepted 78 illegal shipments of species under CITES protection this year alone.--AP