Two U.S. scientists arrested in Borneo

Two U.S. scientists arrested in Borneo

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Two American scientists were caught by wildlife enforcement officers for allegedly trying to smuggle rare fish and insects from a Borneo rain forest, a government official said on Friday.

The scientists were in the eastern state of Sarawak for more than one month, he said.

Enforcement officers from the Sawarak Biodiversity Center who arrived at the camp on Thursday seized more than 100 specimens that had been neatly preserved and packed away, he said.

Under the Sawarak Biodiversity Ordinance, collecting biological specimens without a proper research permit is punishable by up to three years imprisonment or a fine of 20,000 ringgit ($5,260).