M'sian caught in Chennai smuggling gibbons, iguanas in suitcase

A Malaysian woman was caught red-handed trying to smuggle wildlife from Kuala Lumpur to Chennai, India, when officers found four gibbons (siamang) and 52 iguanas in her suitcase.

The Chennai Customs Department said in a statement that the woman was intercepted by Air Intelligence Officers at the Anna International Airport in Chennai on Oct 13.

The woman and the alleged recipient of the wildlife were arrested and are currently under remand, said Chennai Customs principal commissioner Manayathara Mathew Jolly.

“The subject exotic species were properly fed with food and water as per the advice of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) authorities and were deported back to their country of origin. Further investigation is under progress,” he said.

Frequent smuggling from KL

This is the third case of smuggling from Kuala Lumpur to Chennai foiled by the authorities there in the past month.

On Oct 8, the Chennai Customs Department seized 3,220 e-cigarettes, two iPhone 16s, and two gold chains weighing 700 grams - all valued at a total INR10.2 million (RM520,000).

The goods were carried by four individuals flying in from Kuala Lumpur.

On Sept 27, the department intercepted close to 5,000 turtles, carried by passengers from Kuala Lumpur.

There were 4,967 red-eared slider turtles and 19 albino red-eared slider turtles, the department said.

The month before that, it seized 778 Indian star tortoises from the baggage of a passenger departing from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur.

Ninja Turtle Gang back in action?

The recent arrests by Chennai authorities raise questions as to whether the “Ninja Turtle Gang” of turtle and tortoise smugglers, reportedly crippled by Malaysian authorities, are back in action.

In July, Malaysian authorities arrested six members of the Malaysian-led international crime ring and seized 361 smuggled turtles and tortoises in a raid on a Kuala Lumpur residence.

The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) said the protected turtles were meant to be sold for about RM3 million on the black market.

It said the gang smuggled the wildlife from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

The turtles and tortoises can be sold for RM2,000 to RM13,000 each depending on their patterns and size.

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