Foreigners now smuggle in exotic wildlife into India
CHENNAI: In a rare development pointing to a shift in smuggling tactics, Customs officials at Bengaluru International Airport arrested two Thai women for allegedly attempting to bring in exotic wildlife, including a baby monkey and protected birds, from Thailand into India around three weeks ago.
According to sources, the arrests indicate that international wildlife trafficking syndicates based in Thailand and Malaysia may now be employing foreign nationals as carriers to evade detection by Customs and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials at Indian airports.
Until now, Indian nationals -- mostly from Tamil Nadu -- were commonly used as mules to bring in protected species such as primates, reptiles and exotic birds.
Although a Malaysian woman was intercepted at Chennai airport in 2024, she was later found to be of Indian origin with roots in Tamil Nadu. Officials believe that many of the 'kingpins' orchestrating these smuggling operations from Southeast Asia also hail from Tamil Nadu.
The two Thai nationals, No-Ree Tenglong and Faesah Makseng, both aged 30, arrived in Bengaluru on Thai Airways flight TG-325 from Bangkok. During a baggage check, Customs officials discovered a Douc Langur, an endangered primate native to Southeast Asia, and two Writhed Hornbills, which are endemic to the Philippines.
Both species are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Wildlife Protection Act. While the langur died in transit, the birds were rescued by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), treated and later deported to Thailand in accordance with international protocols.
'In earlier cases, the carriers were mostly young men from Chennai, Tiruchy and Ramanathapuram. The involvement of foreigners as mules comes as a surprise,' said a senior official.
Officials noted that most seizures in India take place on a specific set of flights from Malaysia and Thailand. The gangs, it is believed, may be attempting to circumvent this by changing the passenger profile, say sources.
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Hans India
19 minutes ago
- Hans India
Op Sindoor: Pakistan dossier reveals more targets hit
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First Post
24 minutes ago
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The nuclearisation of Pakistan helped Rawalpindi to browbeat the world into submission through the threat of the bomb. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Each time the ISI worked with terrorist organisations using them as a proxy, the Pakistani army got away with an excuse, and often, an indifference built on arrogance. Over two decades, India sent to Pakistan 20 letters, dossiers, DNA samples of terrorists involved in 26/11, Pathankot, Pulwama, and Nagrota. After the Pathankot attacks in 2016, a Pakistani team arrived in India, conducted interviews with 16 witnesses and were given DNA samples of four terrorists. However, Islamabad chose to discard the evidence and mocked India's claims. A Uniqueness of Op Sindoor A rogue government thrives on being unpredictable. Each time, the Pakistani generals flaunted their first mover unpredictability, India responded like a reasonable but firm neighbour. Each time, India responded diplomatically. And then, followed the quick military strikes in the last few years. This time when terrorists struck Pahalgam, Pakistan expected the Indian government to respond similarly, albeit with an aggression they sensed this government could muster. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What Pakistan did not quite expect was the scale of response alongside the speed and the precision with which India struck to raze the terrorist bases with its first round of strikes. By taking out Abdul Rauf Azhar, Jaish e Mohammed associates of Masood Azhar and hitting army bases deep inside Pakistan, India achieved five things. One, it had taken out a terrorist who had killed a high-profile Western journalist of a global media house: Daniel Pearl. The parallels were unambiguous: Osama bin Laden was once a guest in Pakistan till the US took him out. Similarly, Azhar was a guest in Pakistan till India eliminated him. Two, more importantly, Pakistan as the guarantor failed to protect its protégé, the underwriter crashed its credibility and the confidence of Rawalpindi, that once stood on the construct of a nuclear bulwark, appeared shaken. The arrogance, an unwilling accomplice, sought to test the Indian appetite for escalation. Three, India showed the ability to strike American assets, nuclear gateways and Chinese HQ9s that presented a worrying proposition for Pakistan's sponsors. India struck ammunition dumps and bases in Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Chunian, Pasrur, and Sialkot that upset American calculations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Fourthly, in a controlled manner, India became a rare nuclear state to wage a successful war short of the nuclear threshold. Fifthly, India showed that while Americans deployed yesterday's weapon systems – expensive and large – in today's wars, India was using today's weapons for battlefields of tomorrow. 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With that, it was quickly assumed that India had lost the information war. Then, the fog lifted and satellite pictures of damages to the Pakistani military bases, AWACs, hangars, air bases emerged. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Global analysts such as Tom Cooper, John Spencer and Bruce Reidel called out the destruction of Pakistani assets as evidence of how deep India could strike into Pakistan, and the whole picture changed. Tom Cooper said that India's retaliation to Pakistani aggression following Operation Sindoor was a 'clear-cut victory'. Jennifer Zeng, member of the international press association, wrote how India carried out a series of precise strikes that destroyed Pakistan's air defence systems and military bases. John Spencer said Operation Sindoor 'exceeded its strategic aims' and showcased India's military dominance. Japanese strategic expert Satoru Nagao from the Hudson Institute described India's response as a 'responsible and proper' one against Pakistan's state-sponsored terrorism. On the other hand, a well-known New York publication tried to downplay the Pakistani damage, but to no avail. Satellite pictures from neutral agencies lifted the veneer of hypocrisy hiding a biased western media, long cultivated by a cohort of manipulative deep state agencies, the American arms industry and others. These news agencies were cleverly staffed by Pakistani reporters and cunningly positioned as 'the brand of truth.' Pakistan has spoken about the downing of India's Rafales but could never produce proof whereas India produced satellite images of dismantled sites, extracted from Maxar Technologies. Though India's Chief of Defence Staff, in a recent interview, did allude to India losing aircraft but that statement doesn't deviate from the final outcome, reflected in the images of neutralised Pakistani targets. In fact, the Pakistani Prime Minister admitted to Indian strikes hitting inside Pakistan. Reality has edged closer to the truth, and so has the narrative. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Discovering a Field Marshal Realising that the ground was slipping away from beneath their feet, Pakistan decided to play the domestic card (remember that the Pakistani army is likely to have initiated the entire mess to keep itself in power and deny Imran Khan domestic leverage). A victory was declared to prevent national embarrassment due to the revealed pictures of wrecked assets and army bases. 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The era of running a short war and finishing with a scratch or two is over. According to Tom Cooper, Pakistan's nuclear warheads were rendered undeployable after India struck the nuclear storage facility at Kirana Hills. Using compellence as a strategy, the information war is underway, the red line of India's patience altered and the costs of waging future conflict imposed on Pakistan. It is a war intended to render undeployable Pakistan's capacity to continue a long war – economically and militarily. The writer is the author of 'Watershed 1967: India's Forgotten Victory over China' and 'Camouflaged: Forgotten Stories From Battlefields'. His fortnightly column for Firstpost — 'Beyond the Lines' — covers military history, strategic issues, international affairs and policy-business challenges. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views. Tweets @iProbal.
News18
24 minutes ago
- News18
Mumbai Airport's Customs Team Arrests 3, Seizes 8.6Kg Hydroponic Weed Worth Over Rs 8 Crore
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