Passenger from KLIA arrested in India with monitor lizards stuffed in luggage

Summary

• Indian customs at Tiruchirappalli International Airport in Tamil Nadu found two monitor lizards inside a luggage bag on Monday.

• The owner of the bag had travelled from KLIA on board Batik Air flight OD223.

Another wildlife smuggler managed to slip past the airport security checkpoint at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Monday.

However, acting on intelligence received, Indian customs officials stopped the man upon his arrival at the Tiruchirappalli International Airport in Tamil Nadu via Batik Air Flight OD223.

“Examination of his checked-in luggage resulted in the discovery of two monitor lizards,” said the Trichy Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate on X yesterday.

Based on the photos provided, the mouth and limbs of the monitor lizards were bound with masking tape and wrapped in black cloth inside the luggage, which also contained the man’s clothes, chocolates and sweets.

“Further investigations are ongoing,” said the customs officials.

String of cases

This is the latest animal smuggling case involving the KLIA to India route.

On May 20, Indian Customs authorities stopped two Indian nationals who had arrived at the Kempegowda International Airport, in Bengaluru, India, via IndiGo flight 6E-1038 from KLIA.

Gopinath Manivelan and Sudhakar Govindasamy were detained for bringing wildlife animals into the country without a proper permit after nearly 3,000 live red-eared sliders were found in their luggage.

Malaysia is considered a major transit point for the trafficking of endangered animals to other parts of Asia.

The Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry, which supervises Perhilitan, announced in April that a total of 10 investigation papers have been opened in connection with wildlife smuggling activities at KLIA from 2023 to April this year.

The ministry said the cases involve the smuggling of exotic and native species, including turtles, snakes, birds, and primates.

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