Monday, September 06, 2010 14:25 PM
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Customs and excise officers foiled an attempt to smuggle dozens of protected snakes to Hong Kong through a postal delivery service at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Tuesday.
“The snakes, comprising 28 reticulated pythons, nine green tree pythons and a white-lipped python, were packaged and sent through the post,” Bahaduri Wijayanta, customs office chief at the airport said.
He said the packages were listed as ornamental goods, but were detected by officers who conduct document analyses and physical checks on exported goods at the post office.
Bahaduri said the reptiles, worth Rp 52 million, were sent by a man called Vincent from Jl. R. Lukman, Jakarta, to a man identified as Mr. CY at 10th floor, Cheurg Tak Industrial Building, Hong Kong.
According to Bahaduri, the snakes will likely to be sold as pets in Hong Kong because of their unique colors.
Illegally exporting snakes violates the 1992 Quarantine Law, those found guilty can face up to three years in prison and fines amounting to Rp 150 million.
It was the second attempt of animal smuggling foiled by customs this year.
On February 3, officers prevented an attempt to smuggle hundreds of endangered rat snakes and pig-nosed turtles to Hong Kong through a cargo delivery service. The reptiles were listed as fresh fruit by the exporter.
