CHENNAI: A few years after Chennai being internationally identified as the Indian hub for exotic wildlife species smuggled from south-east Asian countries, official data obtained through RTI on the number of seizures indicates that the ‘crown’ now belongs to Bengaluru in Karnataka.
Customs officials at Bengaluru airport in 2024-25 made 23 seizures of exotic species smuggled from Thailand and Malaysia; in comparison, their counterparts at Chennai airport made only around 10 such seizures during the same period.
In contrast, Chennai airport had witnessed 17 such seizures in 2023-24, while in Bengaluru, there were only four. Mumbai is also emerging as another destination for wildlife smugglers, as the airport recorded around 10 seizures in 2024-25, up from only one or two in the previous year.
However, investigators contend that the same international syndicates are at play and have just shifted the landing points of the contraband due to stringent vigil by enforcement agencies at Chennai.
This is evidenced by the fact that many carriers arrested at Bengaluru airport are natives of Tamil Nadu - from Chennai, Tiruchirapalli and nearby central TN districts, and Ramanathapuram and Sivagangai in southern TN. Investigators have also identified links to Tamil kingpins in Thailand and Malaysia who are already in the Customs radar.
The thumb rule in Customs is that only 10% of the smuggled contraband is intercepted, indicating the magnitude of the illegal trade. The smuggled animals fuel the thriving pet trade market across India; they are sold through social media applications and other stores.
Animals seized at Bengaluru in 2024-25 include Anaconda and California king snakes, exotic birds like cockatoo, hornbill, Birds of Paradise, mammals like marmoset monkeys, Siamang Gibbons and other reptiles like iguana, American alligators and bearded lizards. More than 600 animals have been seized from passengers, 24 of whom were arrested.
Bengaluru is an ideal destination for the trafficking of animals as many of them are sold through well-advertised pet shops in the city. Owners of two such pet shops were also found to be involved in this trade and arrested by Customs and wildlife officials. Their links to pan-India syndicates, including the those from TN, have been established by officials.
An analysis by TRAFFIC, an international NGO, of 60 such seizure incidents from January 2022 to May 2025 showed the wildlife seized represented at least 87 species, including seven that are critically endangered. “The range and diversity of species involved is incredible, far beyond just India and Thailand - from naked mole rats native to the Horn of Africa, to the Endangered Fiji Banded Iguana found only on the islands of Fiji and Tonga,” TRAFFIC said in a statement on Tuesday.
TRAFFIC called for greater collaboration between India and Thailand on in-depth investigations into criminal networks “supplying this seemingly endless conveyor belt of wildlife-stuffed bags”.
Kanitha Krishnaswamy, director of TRAFFIC in south-east Asia, stressed that there is an urgent need for countries in south-east Asia involved in such wildlife trafficking to shut this airport underworld and “stop the networks that have been nimbly moving their illicit cargo through the region’s airports”.