Crackdown at KLIA: Wildlife officers deployed to tackle smuggling surge
KUALA LUMPUR: The Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) has deployed 20 officers to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as part of intensified efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade.
Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said its officers have been integrated into the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (MBCA).
They now work alongside other enforcement bodies, including the police, Customs Department, General Operations Force (GOF), Anti-Smuggling Unit, Health Ministry enforcers, Road Transport Department (JPJ), Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Department (Maqis), and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
"Through this cooperation, attempts to smuggle protected wildlife, especially to India, have been successfully thwarted at the main exit points of the country," he was quoted as saying by Harian Metro.
"The rise in smuggling cases involving protected wildlife via KLIA to major Indian cities is linked to the growing demand from that country."
The Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) has described the smuggling of exotic wildlife through KLIA as a "national embarrassment".
In a statement issued in April, CAP expressed alarm over KLIA's continued role as a major transit point in the illegal wildlife trade.
In early March, two individuals boarded a flight to Chennai with a suitcase containing eight exotic animals, including Eastern Grey Gibbons, marbled polecats, a silvery lutung, and a Sumatran white-bearded palm civet, it had said in a statement. Three baby siamang gibbons were found dead.
Meanwhile, Kadir said that India offers a large market, making it a prime target for wildlife smuggling syndicates.
"In addition to being sold as pets, the black market there highly values rhino horns, pangolin scales, and tiger bones for traditional medicine purposes," he said.
Kadir added that Perhilitan has achieved numerous successes, including the arrest of individuals attempting to smuggle various wild animals such as siamangs, turtles, orangutans, gibbons, koel birds, monitor lizards, and others to India.
India has emerged as the main destination, accounting for nearly 73 per cent of wildlife smuggling cases.
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