Trichy: Person arrested for smuggling 2,829 tortoises from China in cookie packets
The tortoises were concealed in cookie packets and wheat flour packets, intended to be smuggled into the country.
A person was arrested in Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu for smuggling live wildlife species after he was intercepted with 2,829 China Pond tortoises at the Trichy International Airport on Sunday, a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) release stated.
The incident came into light after the checked-in baggage of a passenger, who had arrived in a flight from Guangzhou in China via Sri Lanka, was examined at the airport upon suspicion. What was found inside proved to be one of the unique methods, as far as wildlife smuggling went, at least.
Inside the bag, 2,829 live species of China pond tortoises were concealed in cookie packets and wheat flour packets, intended to be smuggled into the country.
So what are these tortoises? In scientific terms, the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), also known as the red-eared terrapin, red-eared turtle, and water slider turtle, is a semi-aquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is a subspecies of the pond slider.
These turtles are generally used as pets, which make for attractive demands in the black market since they breed fast and can hence generate large numbers in a short period.
The tortoises were concealed in cookie packets and wheat flour packets, intended to be smuggled into the country.
The import of these species is also prohibited under law, and can only be allowed with the permission of the Chief Conservator of Forest, which suffice to say, the smuggler did not have. The person was arrested and detained in judicial custody, while the tortoises were handed over to the airlines to be re-exported back to China since the species is not covered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) or Wildlife Protection Act (WPA).