Current:Home > reviews6 "Ninja Turtle Gang" members arrested, 200 smuggled reptiles seized in Malaysia-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
6 "Ninja Turtle Gang" members arrested, 200 smuggled reptiles seized in Malaysia
lotradecoin reliability View Date:2024-12-26 05:32:56
Malaysian authorities have arrested six members of an international crime ring known as the "Ninja Turtle Gang" and seized about 200 smuggled tortoises and turtles, a wildlife official said Tuesday.
Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, director-general of Malaysia's wildlife and national parks department, said four Cambodians and two Malaysians were arrested during a July 2 raid on a house in Kuala Lumpur by police and wildlife officials.
He told AFP some 200 turtles and tortoises worth an estimated $52,300 were rescued during the raid, the second seizure in Malaysia in less than a week.
Many people across Asia believe turtles and tortoises bring good luck and prosperity.
Abdul Kadir said the six arrested belong to the "Ninja Turtle Gang," an international crime ring involved in smuggling reptiles.
Police and wildlife officials rescued 400 tortoises during an initial raid on June 29 that were meant for sale in Southeast Asia and were worth $805,084 on the black market.
Animals rescued in the latest raid included the critically endangered Chinese striped-necked turtle, which is also known as the golden thread turtle, Abdul Kadir said. The Chinese striped-neck turtle is native to China, Taiwan, Laos and Vietnam, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"This species is popular in the pet trade both within and outside the native range, and it has a history of being used as a food source and in traditional medicine," the agency says.
Other species included the endangered black pond turtle, snapping turtle, sulcata tortoise, leopard tortoise and the red-footed tortoise found throughout South America and the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Barbados.
Leopard tortoises are native to the dry savannahs of central and southern Africa, according to the Maryland Zoo, which houses them.
"Historically, they also have been heavily exploited by the pet trade," the zoo says. "They are hunted and consumed locally for food."
Also discovered were three snakes, four softshell turtles, skink, a type of lizard and five frogs.
"Initial investigations revealed that the reptiles were smuggled from abroad to meet the lucrative pet market," Abdul Kadir said.
The rescued animals were being kept in a Malaysian wildlife department quarantine center.
The reptiles are illegally brought into Malaysia by road or in suitcases by smugglers aboard commercial flights, Abdul Kadir said last week.
Traffic, a wildlife NGO, has said that Southeast Asian countries "function as source, consumer and as entrepots for wildlife originating from within the region as well as the rest of the world."
Between June 2017 and December 2018, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigation found that more than 1,500 native turtles — including wood turtles, spotted turtles and eastern box turtles — traveled from the U.S. to Asia.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice charged a man for allegedly trafficking turtles from California to his home in Hong Kong.
- In:
- Malaysia
- Illegal Wildlife Trafficking
veryGood! (5)
Related
- Usher Cancels Atlanta Concert Hours Before Show to Rest and Heal
- Steve Scalise announces he has very treatable blood cancer
- Michael Oher Subpoenas Tuohys' Agents and The Blind Side Filmmakers in Legal Case
- Trump, other defendants to be arraigned next week in Georgia election case
- US unemployment claims fall 7,000 to 227,000 in sign of resiliency in job market
- Saudi Arabia reportedly sentences man to death for criticizing government on social media
- Lionel Messi, Inter Miami face Nashville SC in MLS game: How to watch
- El Chapo asks judge to let wife and daughters visit him in supermax prison
- Hideki Matsuyama will be without regular caddie, coach after their passports and visas were stolen
- Yankees release former AL MVP Josh Donaldson amidst struggles, injuries in Bronx
Ranking
- Demi Lovato opens up about how 'daddy issues' led her to chase child stardom, success
- Kirkus Prize names Jesmyn Ward, Héctor Tobar among finalists for top literary award
- What does Florida’s red flag law say, and could it have thwarted the Jacksonville shooter?
- Unclear how many in Lahaina lost lives as Hawaii authorities near the end of their search for dead
- US shoppers sharply boosted spending at retailers in July despite higher prices
- Defendant in Georgia election interference case asks judge to unseal records
- Timeline: Special counsel's probe into Trump's handling of classified documents
- The EPA removes federal protections for most of the country's wetlands
Recommendation
-
The Notebook Actress Gena Rowlands Dead at 94
-
Wildfire in Tiger Island Louisiana burns on after leveling 30,000 acres of land
-
Family of South Carolina teacher killed by falling utility pole seeks better rural infrastructure
-
Angels go from all-in to folding, inexplicably placing six veterans on waivers
-
Giants trading Jordan Phillips to Cowboys in rare deal between NFC East rivals
-
Sarah Jessica Parker Adopts Carrie Bradshaw's Cat from And Just Like That
-
Chlöe and Halle Bailey Share When They Feel Most Confident and Some Tips for a Viral Fashion Moment
-
Authors Jesmyn Ward and James McBride are among the nominees for the 10th annual Kirkus Prizes