KOCHI: The Customs department has arrested two persons who attempted to smuggle 14 exotic birds from Thailand at Cochin International Airport on Sunday night. The arrested persons are Bindu and Sharath, both natives of Thiruvananthapuram, who arrived on a flight from Thailand.
While checking the baggage, Customs officials noticed the sound of birds flapping feathers. They then decided to open the baggage after informing the passengers. When the baggage was opened in the presence of passengers, officials found birds in separate five boxes. There were 14 birds - eight 'Maleo', two 'Magnificent Birds of Paradise', two 'King Birds of Paradise' and one 'Visayan Hornbill'. All these birds come under Schedule- IV of the Wild Life Protection Act (WLPA).
"This is the first time in the last several years that we detected the smuggling of birds in Nedumbassery airport. The passengers admitted that they were smuggling these birds after being offered a remuneration of Rs 70,000. The price of these birds varied from Rs 25,000 to Rs two lakhs in pet markets," a Customs official said.
Soon, forest officials were informed about the matter. The forest officials after checking the birds took them into custody. Customs and Forest officials decided to register separate cases against the passengers. Attempts are also being made to identify the person who hired Bindu and Sharath for smuggling the pets.
As per the Export-Import Policy, the import of live animals listed in WLPA without a valid license, NOCs from the forest department and animal quarantine certificate are banned. In the present case, both passengers did not produce any valid documents to import these exotic birds, a forest official said.
"We will re-export the birds to Thailand. If it was bought from any shops there, the birds will be sent back to the shops' owners. Arrangements for it will be made soon. Illegally smuggling such birds and pets is an offence which can go up to three years of imprisonment," a Customs official said.