CHENNAI: In yet another case of wildlife smuggling from southeast Asian countries involving Tamil Nadu natives, customs officials at the Bengaluru international airport apprehended two men from Thanjavur and Tiruvarur, who had brought 2,952red-eared slider turtles in their check-in luggage on an IndiGo flight from Malaysia, in the early hours of Wednesday.
Sources said Bengaluru Customs apprehended Manivelan Gopinath (41) of Thanjavur and Govindasamy Sudhakar (56) of Tiruvarur, who landed in Bengaluru on the 6E-1038 flight from Kuala Lumpur late on Tuesday. Their check-in baggage contained 1,652 and 1,280 turtles respectively, for which they had no official documentation. The turtles were seized and deported back to Malaysia on the next flight, and the duo has been detained for interrogation, sources added.
Though red-eared slider turtles are commonly smuggled from Malaysia to India, it is not yet protected under the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) or the Wildlife Protection Act. There are research papers indicating that it has become an invasive species in some waterbodies of India.
It may be noted that the Bengaluru Customs had earlier seized nine Wagler’s pit vipers, a venomous snake native to southeast Asian countries, a common cuscus and a possum from Coimbatore native Jagadeesh Raman who landed from Thailand, a week ago. Customs also arrested the alleged receiver of the wildlife, Yogesh P (36), who runs a pet shop in Bengaluru.