Smuggling of rare birds foiled in Lampung

BANDARLAMPUNG, Lampung: Security forces here foiled an attempt to smuggle at least 327 protected birds through Bakauheni port, Lampung province, on Monday.

Yulianto, 29, was arrested as a suspect in the smuggling case by forest police from the Natural Resources Conservation Agency and a team of officials from the Pro-Fauna Indonesia office in the province.

The arrest was made while the suspect was on board a ferry that was about to depart for Merak port in Banten province.

The officers were in Bakauheni on their way to Jakarta, bringing dozens of other protected animals they had seized in an operation in Lampung.

One of the officers later heard the cry of an eagle from a minibus aboard the ferry. They then found at least 327 protected birds in the vehicle. --JP