JOHOR BARU: A Vietnamese man and his wife are expected to be charged at the Johor Baru Court Complex on Friday (April 10) in connection with a massive seizure of wildlife parts worth over RM36.8mil in Taman Johor Jaya here.
The case has also exposed the continuing boom in illegal wildlife trade, conservationists warn.
Johor Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) adviser Vincent Chow said the scale of the haul uncovered by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) indicates that such activities are still “booming”.
“This shows that illegal wildlife trade is still active due to demand for wildlife products coming from within the region,” he said when contacted.
Chow said the foreign male suspect detained in the case could be part of a larger syndicate and may have acted as a stockist.
“Most of the wildlife parts seized have already been processed and some were even packed, likely waiting to be shipped out either to the local or international market,” he added.
Among the items seized were compressed pieces suspected to be from primates, which Chow noted have little to no demand locally.
“This suggests that the items were likely meant for export,” he said.
Last Saturday (April 4), Perhilitan raided the house and uncovered a cache of wildlife parts, including hundreds of suspected python skins and bear bile sacs, as well as compressed pieces believed to be from tigers and primates.
In a statement, Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim had said the suspect failed to produce valid documents to possess the items, and the case is being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716).
