Passenger caught with 499 tortoises in luggage

Yahoooooo News ^ | 09/16/03 | Staff Writer

[bedolido]

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has charged an Indian national for trading in endangered wildlife after finding 499 live star tortoises in his carry-on luggage, the latest sign of growing Asian trade in illegal animals.

The 28-year-old man had tried to smuggle the tortoises from Chennai in southern India but was caught on Monday at Singapore's main international airport, said an official at the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore.

He was promised S$100 (36 pounds) for smuggling the star-striped animals, which have a street value of about S$30,000, the AVA said on Tuesday. The tortoises were handed over to the Singapore Zoo.

Singapore, a regional air and shipping hub, is a transit point in growing trafficking in illegal wildlife between the United States and parts of Asia such as India and Indonesia.

Four wildlife smuggling syndicates have been identified in Singapore and authorities confiscated animals worth S$300,000 in the first five months of 2003, compared with S$65,000 for all of last year, the AVA said.

"As long as there is money to be made in this, there is always going to be this problem," said AVA spokesman Goh Shih Young.

Exotic birds such as the Moluccan cockatoo, a highly endangered species, are among the most common animals smuggled from Indonesia, while tortoises, often crammed into cotton bags and stuffed into boxes, are usually smuggled from India.

The tortoises, a popular pet, are sometimes fed in Singapore before being shipped out again, often to the United States. But authorities also report a local market for exotic animals. A scorpion can fetch S$100, for example, and a cockatoo S$1,000.

People found guilty of trading in illegal wildlife in Singapore face fines of up to S$5,000 or up to 12 months' jail, or both.

[TheBigB]

Aparently he felt 500 tortoises would be silly?

[mikeb704]

Doesn't leave much room for baboon noses, does it?

Michael M. Bates: My Side of the Swamp

[GSWarrior]

WOT bump. (war on turtles)

[martin_fierro]

It was just for the shell of it.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

Singapore has charged an Indian national for trading in endangered wildlife after finding 499 live star tortoises in his carry-on luggage, the latest sign of growing Asian trade in illegal animals.

"Ohmigawd! One of the little buggers got loose! Basil! BASILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL -- !" :)

[martin_fierro]

What a terrapinhead.

[Constitution Day]

He probably got hungry & made soup out of #500. ;^)

[cincinnati65]

No, I'm not smuggling. These are personal use turtles.....

[hchutch]

Pinging a bunch of folks to this.

Note the penalty for the wildife smuggling in Singapore: $5,000 and up to a year in the slammer.

Now, what are the penalties for running in drugs there? Anyone know? Anyone WANT to know? I'll bet they're a lot harsher.

Run the comparison for the USA as well.

Wildlife smuggling is second on the list of stuff that gets moved on the black market, second only to drugs. The risks are a lot less, though. If al-Qaeda wanted to raise extra cash, this could be a way for them to do just that.

[TheBigB]

"Pardon me sir, but is that a loggerhead [turtle] in your pocket?" :)

[Jack Wilson]

Thank God they didn't make it into the cockpit...

[Poohbah]

Now, what are the penalties for running in drugs there? Anyone know?

Yes. It's a capital offense.

BTW, a year in a Singapore prison is no joke.

[hchutch]

True, but it is much better than getting strung up, shot, or whatever way Singapore does capital punishment (I'm willing to bet it ain't pleasant OR pretty).

You want a low-risk black market activity? Smuggling parrots or turtles or whatever else might be a good way to do that.

[Miss Marple]

I think you have hit upon something. Might I suggest a note to the FBI would be appropriate?

[scouse]

finding 499 live star tortoises in his carry-on luggage,

Obviously the guy who smuggled in the 499 hares must have made it passed the customs.

[new cruelty]

10,000 Nuns and orphans bump

[hchutch]

Don't have any hard evidence they'd actually be trying that at this point. All it is right now is an idea.

[Wolfie]

He will be punished by being turned on his back in the hot sun.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

Quidam?