Rare animals in check-in baggage: Passengers from Bangkok held in Bengaluru
Over 139 animals that were recovered included rare and threatened species like Yellow and Green Anaconda, Yellow Headed Amazon Parrot, Nile Monitor, Red Foot Tortoise, Iguanas, Ball Pythons, Alligator Gar, Yaki Monkey, Veiled Chameleon, Racoon Dog, White Headed Piones and others.
Acting on inputs, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials on Sunday recovered 18 non-indigenous animals, including snakes, after intercepting three passengers arriving from Bangkok to Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. This also led to the busting of a racket at a farmhouse where 139 animals of 48 extremely rare and threatened species were found. Four people have been held in the case so far.
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According to an official statement released on Friday, one woman was among those who were intercepted at the airport. “Upon examination of their checked-in baggage resulted in the recovery of non-indigenous 18 animals (4 primates and 14 reptiles) with the assistance of Karnataka Forest Department officials,” it added. After a quick follow-up and interrogation of the alleged wildlife smugglers, revenue intelligence officials - along with the state forest department - raided a farmhouse at the city’s outskirts and recovered another batch of rare animals.
“Evidences of financial transactions to source Non-indigenous wildlife through the route of smuggling, buy–sell transactions on WhatsApp and other social media platforms have been unearthed,” the statement added further.
Over 139 animals that were recovered included rare and threatened species like Yellow and Green Anaconda, Yellow Headed Amazon Parrot, Nile Monitor, Red Foot Tortoise, Iguanas, Ball Pythons, Alligator Gar, Yaki Monkey, Veiled Chameleon, Racoon Dog, White Headed Piones and others. These animals were later handed over to the Bannerghatta Biological Park.
