Rare snake smuggle foiled at Soekarno-Hatta airport

Multa Fidrus , The Jakarta Post , Tangerang | Sat, 10/11/2008 3:59 PM | Jakarta

Customs and excise officers foiled an attempt of to smuggle endangered snakes into the country using cargo delivery service at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Friday.

"Five boa snakes were wrapped in a standard packaging and sent via FedEx Express cargo delivery service from the Philippines. The package was reported as goods," Eko Darmanto, chief of customs intelligence told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He said the snakes, each worth arround Rp 10 million (US$1,020) in the local market, was sent by a man identified as JW. The five snakes were addressed to someone identified as RC in Surabaya, East Java.

"We have put the snakes to the airport quarantine center for further identification and to determine whether they bring any dangerous diseases," he said.

Security officers at the airport screening point found the snakes after seeing moving objects in the package and decided to examine it.

According to Eko, importing illegal animals violates quarantine law and perpetrators could face a maximum punishment of three years in prison or up to Rp 150 million fine.

Earlier on Thursday, security officers confiscated 300 grams of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu from a man at domestic cargo gate.

M. Fariedh, chief of security operation, said the drug belonged SHT, a resident on Jl. Lambung Mangkurat, Samarinda, East Kalimantan, who was supposed to fly with Lion Air on Thursday morning. (dre)

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