Malaysia & Exotic Species Smugglers

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 5/12/2007 10:59:00 PM
The rise of China has created increased demand there for exotic species as cuisine. On the menu are several endangered species according to sources like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Unfortunately, Malaysia is becoming a regional transshipment point for smugglers of endangered species to China as patrolling the country's vast, rugged terrain is difficult. From the Malaysia Star:

Wildlife smugglers are using Peninsular Malaysia as a transit point to transport pangolins, freshwater turtles, monitor lizards and snakes worth millions of ringgit by land to China, where these animals are in high demand as exotic food.

Although Customs and the anti-smuggling unit at the Malaysian-Thai border have stepped up checks and confiscated consignments of these animals, they believe the illegal trade continues daily.

Kelantan Wildlife and National Parks Department director Pazil Abdul Patah told The Star that smugglers were taking advantage of the long, winding and shallow Sungai Golok to smuggle the animals.

“The river is about 100km long and easily accessible by road from the Malaysian side. This makes it a favourite among smugglers.” He said smugglers used illegal jetties and small wooden boats to ferry the animals across. He said although officers had nabbed some of the smugglers, enforcement along the river was tedious and difficult.

“Furthermore, smugglers are always one step ahead of enforcement officers,” he said.

Investigations by wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic – a joint programme of the World Wide Fund for Nature and the World Conservation Union – have revealed that wildlife traders from Sumatra and Borneo regularly smuggled the animals by sea or air to middlemen in Malaysia.

“These middlemen hold the animals in makeshift bays before packing them into crates, boxes and gunny sacks, and smuggling them to Thailand,” said Traffic South-East Asia regional senior programme officer Chris Shepherd.

“The animals are taken by land, either through Laos or Cambodia, and then Vietnam, to China.”