CHENNAI: In yet another clear indication of the involvement of pet shops in the trafficking of exotic wildlife from Thailand and Malaysia to India, the Bengaluru Airport Customs last week arrested the owner of a popular pet shop in the city who had arrived there allegedly to receive a Coimbatore-based man who had smuggled some venomous snakes, a cuscus and possum from Thailand.
On May 12, Bengaluru Customs intercepted Jagadeesh Raman (43), a native of Sulur in Coimbatore, after he arrived from Bangkok on the TG-325 Thai Airways flight. His bag was found to contain nine Wagler’s pit vipers, a venomous snake found in south-east Asia, a common cuscus and a possum. Customs officials also arrested Yogesh P (36) who allegedly came to collect the trafficked animals.
According to official sources, Yogesh P and his brother Sunil P run Sun’s Aqua pet store in JP Nagar in Bengaluru. The store’s social media profiles advertise the sale of multiple exotic animals and birds, and it has also been featured on multiple YouTube vlogs as well.
TNIE had earlier reported the link between S Ravikumar, a former Tamil Nadu police constable who was identified as the lynchpin of an international wildlife trafficking gang, and Syed Liyaqath Ulla, a Bengaluru-based man who also runs a pet shop, the Karnataka Aquarium.
Ulla was arrested allegedly for smuggling exotic species in Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh in November and features in multiple investigations of the Chennai Customs and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) pertaining to exotic species smuggling.
According to Customs sources, Yogesh and Jagadeesh were immediately let off on bail as the vipers and possum are not covered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) or the Wildlife Protection Act. The cuscus too is protected only under Appendix II of CITES and Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act.
While Yogesh could not be reached, Sunil denied his pet shop had any links with smuggled wildlife. “There is nothing illegal in what we do,” he told TNIE over a phone call.
Snake smuggling sparks anti-venom worries
The smuggling of exotic venomous snakes by air passengers is a cause for worry for Customs, as India may not have the right anti-venom in case the snakes bite anyone while handling them, sources said.
Apart from the May 12 incident at Bengaluru, Customs officials at the Trichy International Airport also seized 26 green pit vipers (also venomous) from a Ramanathapuram native who had smuggled them in from Bangkok.
Mansoor Chetlu, a Bengaluru-based activist, has filed a complaint with the Karnataka DGP, seeking action against those involved in this smuggling case as it violates flight safety. Senior Customs officials had highlighted this issue way back in March 2019, when an African horn-pit viper was smuggled from Bangkok to Chennai.
Customs sources said that the smuggling of wildlife from Thailand and Malaysia has been taken up with the embassies of the respective countries through official channels.