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Police reveal online trade with endangered animals
The Jakarta Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of a 42-year-old man identified only by the initials AM, who was in possession of three endangered animals worth almost Rp 100 million.
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In this undated still image from a video, conservationists of the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation carry a tranquilized orangutan that will be flown to Kehje Sewen Forest and released into the wild, in Muara Wahau, East Kalimantan. (AP/ -)
T
he Jakarta Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of a 42-year-old man identified only by the initials AM, who was in possession of three endangered animals worth almost Rp 100 million (US$7,499).
AM had bought a clouded leopard, a sun bear and an orangutan, all of them still infants, through Instagram, said Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono.
“Our preliminary investigation led us to a house in Pejaten, South Jakarta, where we caught AM red-handed keeping the three animals in captivity,” Argo said during a press conference, adding that the discovery had been done last January.
The clouded leopard was sold at a staggering Rp 60 million (US$4,500), while the sun bear and orangutan were priced at Rp 15 million and Rp 25 million, respectively.
Further investigation showed that AM was an animal collector and enthusiast, Argo said.
Police, however, had not managed to find the sellers of the vulnerable animals.
The animals have been handed over to the Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA).
The suspect was charged under a 1990 law on the conservation of natural resources and the ecosystem and faces a maximum five-year jail sentence and a Rp 100 million (US$7,500) fine. (dea)
