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Sarawak busts big wildlife smuggling ring, culprit

escapes

By Magdalene RogersKUCHING - An international wildlife

smuggling ring was busted along the Sarawak-Kalimantan

border near Lubok Antu where the Sarawak's Security

And Asset Protection Unit (SAPU) recovered 56 types of

wildlife. SAPU general manager Sani Bakar said that

the raid ended the longest investigation by the unit

to date. SAPU officers managed to gather evidence and

specimens which included the spotted dove, lesser

adjutant stock, white bellied fish eagle, laphura

bulweri, crested firebacks, cervus unicolor and

skeletal remains of a small primate, believed to be of

a baby orang utan. However, the main perpetrator

managed to elude arrest and Sani said SAPU would

continue its pursuit as in addition to breaching

Wildlife Protection Ordinance, there was a host of

other laws which the perpetrators had broken. Under

Malaysia's Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998 and

listed in Appendix 1,11,111 of the Convention on

International Trade of Endangered Species or CITES, a

Multilateral Environmental Agreement of which Malaysia

is a signatory, animals and birds were either

protected or totally protected species. SAPU's

operations included undercover officers, supplemented

by intensified patrols and inspections, gathering

intelligence that enabled the profiling of the alleged

perpetrators and their modus operandi.

http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/thu/may26b2.htm

Animals seized from smugglers

BY JACK WONG

KUCHING: Months of probing led enforcement officers to

a secluded spot in a border forest where they found

more than 50 captured protected animals and wildlife

specimens.

The officers from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation

also stumbled upon the skeletal remains of a small

primate, believed to be a baby orang-utan.

A foreigner and a local detained at the spot are being

questioned. Initial investigations point to an

international smuggling ring carrying out an illicit

wildlife trade.

The seized wildlife – found in cages and inside

enclosures – included birds and two cervus unicolour

deer believed to have been smuggled into Sarawak from

Kalimantan, Indonesia.

 

 

WILDLIFE IN DANGER: The deer that were among the

protected animals found kept by the smugglers in a

secluded jungle spot near Lubok Antu.

Among other the wildlife seized in Sunday night’s raid

were spotted doves, adjutant storks, white-bellied

fish eagles, and two pheasant species, the lophura

bulweri and the crested fireback.

The corporation’s security and asset protection unit

general manager Sani Bakar told a press conference

here yesterday that the smuggling of these specimens

was fuelled by international demand, especially from

collectors, for the aesthetic appeal of the animals

and birds.He warned that these specimens, especially

the birds, could carry and spread infectious diseases

that might affect the poultry industry as well as

human health.

He said the raid culminated the unit’s longest active

probe into suspected international wildlife smuggling

activities.“Investigations started early this year

with intelligence corroborated by reports from the

Wildlife Conservation Society of poaching activities

along the border areas.

“Our operations included probes by undercover

officers, intensive patrols and inspections and

information gathering.

“These helped in the profiling of suspected

perpetrators and their modus operandi,” Sani said.

He said that although the main culprits had eluded

arrest, the corporation was questioning the two men

who were at the spot when the raiding party moved in.

 

He said the corporation earlier identified a key

suspect involved in the smuggling but when they went

to the man’s house here, the forestry officials were

told by the family that he had not been home for a

long time.

Sani said the state government would not allow itself

to be used as a springboard for illicit trade of wild

fauna and flora and would prosecute offenders under

the law.

 

 

 

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/5/24/nation/11029031 & sec=nation

An assortment of 56 wildlife of Sarawak-Kalimantan

border recovered

KUALA LUMPUR. May 23. KAZINFORM. -- A Malaysian

authority recovered 56 assortment of wildlife in a

raid Monday at a secluded place along the

Sarawak-Kalimantan border near Lubok Antu, in Sarawak,

an east Malaysian state, Kazinform quotes Bernama.

 

With the finding, the Sarawak State Forestry

Department's Security and Asset Protection Unit (SAPU)

believed they have smashed an international wildlife

smuggling ring.

The mastermind, however, managed to elude arrest, SAPU

General Manager Sani Bakar said in a statement.

 

Saying that the mastermind and his henchmen were

elusive and that different strategies had to be

applied to nab them, he said, SAPU managed to identify

their exact location last night and raided the place

Monday, seizing various animals.

 

He said the animals were protected species under the

Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998 and listed in

Appendix I, II and III of the Convention on

International Trade of Endangered Species, a

multilateral environmental agreement of which Malaysia

is one of the signatories.

 

Sani said SAPU officers also recovered skeletal

remains of a small primate suspected to be a baby

Orang Utan. " A foreigner who was at the site with a

local is being investigated, " he

said. He said SAPU had been actively investigating

activities of the syndicate since early this year.

 

The syndicate's operations were an organised crime

from both sides of the border, he said.

Based on initial investigations, he said, the

recovered wildlife were suspected to have been

smuggled in from across the border. Specimens seized

include spotted dove, lesser adjutant stock, white

bellied fish eagle, laphura bulweri, crested firebacks

and cervus unicolour.

 

" There was also a large cage and an area for primates,

especially Orang Utans, but it was empty, " he added.

http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng & id=124087

 

 

Michelle Desilets

BOS UK

www.savetheorangutan.org.uk

www.savetheorangutan.info

" Primates Helping Primates "

 

Please sign our petition to rescue over 100 smuggled orangutans in Thailand:

http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/822035733

 

 

 

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