(IN): Tiger skulls, drugs bound for China seized in Manipur

[Guest guest]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4152868,prtpage-1.cms

Tiger skulls, drugs bound for China seized in Manipur

19 Feb 2009, 0604 hrs IST, TNN

 

 

IMPHAL/GUWAHATI: A large consignment of animal parts was seized by the Assam

Rifles in Manipur's Chandel district on Monday, once again pointing to the

the thriving poaching racket that operates in the North-East. It is

suspected that the animal parts were being smuggled to South-east Asian

markets that have a huge demand for tiger bones and skin.

 

On Monday personnel from Assam Rifle's 20th battalion seized the parts which

included two tiger skulls, two tiger paws, 16 kg of tiger bones, 340 kg of

pangolin shell and 191 deer antlers from a truck at a check post in Bongyang

in Chandel district.

 

The consignment also included 2.8 lakh actephide tablets worth Rs 4 lakh in

the Indian market. Sources said the price of the contraband drug could gop

up to four times in the grey market.

 

The truck was heading toward Moreh, a business town in Manipur bordering

Myanmar. Sources said that once the truck reached Moreh, the consignment

would have been smuggled to Myanmar from where it would have headed to East

and Southeast Asian markets, like China and Thailand.

 

China is the biggest consumer of tiger parts in world, where the bones and

body parts are used for traditional Chinese medicines.

 

Wildlife crime experts said that with the wild tiger population being

virtually wiped out from the jungles in China, the soaring demand for tiger

parts is being met from Myanmar and the Northeastern of India.

 

Also the porous international border that the Northeastern region shares

with neighbouring countries like Myanmar, has made smuggling of wildlife

parts and contraband drugs from the region easier.

 

In December last year, Assam Rifles seized 75 kg of red sanders along with

elephant tusks, trunks and jaw parts, deer skins and deer antlers also at

Bongyang village. Incidentally the consignment was on its way to Myanmar

through Moreh. In January this year about 30 truck loads of red sanders were

seized by Assam Rifles also in Moreh.

 

Wild life experts suspected that the tigers and deer could have been poached

in north Indian forests. " It is a possibility that these were poached in

eastern Uttar Pradesh. This seems to be a new route that the poachers are

using to smuggle out animal parts to South-east Asia. The way rhinos and

tigera are being killed in Assam, West Bengal forests are under threat as

well. But north Bengal hardly has any wild life left for poaching, " said

Pranabesh Sanyal, former director of the Sunderban Tiger Reserve.

 

The Moreh-Myanmar and Assam-Siliguri routes are the major conduits for trade

in illegal wildlife parts from the Northeastern region, whose rich

biodiversity is already under thread from poachers.

 

Even other illegal traders from others states in the country also uses the

Moreh-Myanmar and Assam-Siliguri route for smuggling out wildlife parts and

red sanders from Andhra Pradesh.

 

Police in Kokrajhar district seized large quantity of antlers and red

sandalwood pieces from a saw mill in Gosaigaon.

 

--

http://www.stopelephantpolo.com

http://www.freewebs.com/azamsiddiqui