138 Pond Turtles Seized at Chennai Airport

CHENNAI: As many as 138 black spotted pond turtles were seized at the Chennai Airport from a passenger who was booked to fly to Kuala Lumpur via Colombo. Officials of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau had been tracking these smugglers for a week before they made the arrest.

Ghani Mohammed (35) of Mint Street had packed the turtles into two cartons and kept it in his suitcase. He had been booked on a business class seat to Colombo and then on to Malaysia. Based on the information given by the agency, members of customs air intelligence unit made the arrest.

This has been the seventh attempt to take turtles indigenous to the region across to Malaysia. Authorities believe that it could be a ring that has been contracted to take these shipments across, behind the increased number of smuggling bids.