Smugglers leave turtle eggs

KOTA KINABALU: Marine police seized 2,600 sea turtle eggs when they foiled an attempt by Filipino smugglers to bring them in for the Sandakan market.

Marine Police Region 4 commander Asst Comm Mohamad Madun said two men in a pump boat fled on seeing a marine police patrol boat near the coast of Kampung Forest in Sandakan at about 4am yesterday.

The marine police team found the eggs, valued at about RM3,120, inside two gunny sacks and six plastic bags that was abandoned on the Kampung Forest shore.

Sea turtles are protected. Any­one caught collecting or selling them faces a RM50,000 fine or a maximum jail term of five years or both if found guilty.