JOHOR BARU: A Vietnamese man has pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing various snake organs without permits.
The accused, Hoang Van Thai, 39, pleaded guilty when the charges were read in Vietnamese before Sessions Court judge Madihah Zainol here on Friday (April 10).
According to the charge sheets, the accused was found to have in his possession 1,022 gall bladders and 191 tongues of Python reticulatus, a protected wildlife species under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010, without a licence.
He was accused of committing the offence at around 9.50pm in a house at Jalan Ros Merah 4/ Ros Merah 6, Taman Johor Jaya here on April 4. He was charged under Section 60(1) of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 for the offences.
Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) DPP Mas Izzaty Lokman requested the court to set a date for the submission of morphology reports. She also asked the court not to allow bail to the suspect, citing the seriousness of the alleged crimes and the suspect's status as a non-citizen.
However, his lawyer Mohd Fazaly Ali Mohd Ghazali said his client's nationality should not be a factor as there should not be a disparity of treatment between locals and foreigners. He added that the prosecution had also yet to provide any documents or statements to prove the scale of the offence.
Madihah set April 20 for the next mention of the case and the confirmation of the accused's immigration status to decide on bail.
Last Saturday (April 4), Perhilitan uncovered a stash of wild animal parts such as snake and bear bile sacs worth over RM36.8mil at a house in Taman Johor Jaya.
In a statement, Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said the suspect failed to produce valid documents to possess the items, and the case is being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.
