Chennai: A spate of smuggling incidents involving exotic Indian star tortoises has been recorded at the Chennai international airport in the past 10 days. Though thwarted, the smuggling bid has had Customs officials on their toes, with as many as 330 star tortoises seized from five individuals. Significantly, all five were scheduled to proceed to Malaysia, where there is a huge demand for these small and exotic reptiles.
In the latest instance, two individuals Laila Bhanu, of Seven Wells here and Suleiman Mohammad of Sivaganga were apprehended on Thursday, when baggage scanners detected movement inside their respective baggage. In total, about 130 star tortoises were retrieved from the duo, which were later handed over to forest officials.
This comes in the backdrop of Customs officials catching three others, all residents of Chennai, last week for the same offence. Customs sources maintain that this act of smuggling is being done as there is huge premium involved in South East Asian countries.
It is reported that the value of a star tortoise can exceed Rs 25,000 in international market. “If caught, a smuggler is rarely imprisoned and escapes after paying a paltry sum, which is very low compared to the apparent value of the tortoises on the marketplace, thereby not deterring many smugglers,” a Customs official said. He noted that there was lull in smuggling of the tortoises during the last few years, but seems to have resumed due to poor punishment.
