PETALING JAYA: Customs officers have seized 63 live turtles from a passenger arriving on a flight from Malaysia at the Hong Kong International Airport.
The turtles, which are suspected to be endangered species, are worth almost half a million ringgit or HK$819,000.
According to a statement on the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department’s website, the 37-year-old male passenger was on transit from Malaysia on April 1 and had planned to take a flight to the Philippines that day.
When Customs officers inspected the man’s check-in baggage, 63 live turtles were found inside.
“Upon inspection by officers of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the live turtles were suspected to be endangered species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and regulated under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586) in Hong Kong.
“The case has been handed over to the department for follow-up action. Hong Kong Customs reminds the public not to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong,” it said.
Under the Ordinance, any person importing, exporting or possessing specimens of endangered species not in accordance with the Ordinance commits an offence and will be liable to a maximum fine of HK$10mil and imprisonment of 10 years upon conviction, with the specimens forfeited.
In June last year, Indian airport authorities intercepted 6,850 live wildlife smuggled into the country inside the luggage of passengers on a flight from Kuala Lumpur.
It was reported that the live red-eared sliders, a species of turtle, were discovered hidden in the checked-in luggage of two men who had arrived at the Tiruchi International Airport from Kuala Lumpur.
Earlier in April 2023, Indian airport authorities found 22 snakes in the baggage of a woman who arrived at the Chennai airport from Kuala Lumpur.
