6,000 star turtles seized at Cochin airport

NEDUMBASSERY: In a major haul the Customs Intelligence personnel at the Cochin International Airport seized about 6,000 tiny star turtles from two baggage of a passenger who arrived here from Singapore by Silk Air flight MI 468 on Monday night. According to Deputy Commissioner (Customs) C Madhavan, the passenger was trying to leave the airport through the green channel without declaring that his baggage contained star turtles. He was intercepted by Customs Intelligence personnel. The passenger was identified as Abdul Rahim Naina Muhemmed (44) of Chennai.  The turtles were kept in polythene bags and each bag had 250 star turtles. The polythene bags were kept in two baggage. Initially, he told the Customs personnel that the baggage contained only used cloths.  On further inspection, the Customs personnel found thousands of tiny turtles concealed in his baggage, many in critical condition. The ornamental turtles were taken out of the bags immediately.  The Customs personnel suspect that the seized turtles come under the Red Eared Slider species and each costs about 2,000 Pounds in the European market. A tiny turtle will fetch `300 in Kerala. The Customs officials suspect that an international racket is behind the import of the ornamental turtles.The import license issued by the Director-General of Wildlife Trade is essential to import banned species. Such species can be imported only through designated airports like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. There should be specially authorised veterinary doctors to deal with such species. The Cochin Airport neither has any quarantine facilities nor any veterinary officer designated by the Animal Husbandry Department. The passenger did not possess the requisite special clearance from the wildlife authorities and documents to import prohibited consignments. The passenger will be penalised and the consignment will be re-exported to Singapore since the Cochin International Airport is not a designated airport to import such banned animals, plants and birds.  The turtles are kept in the water at the airport.Customs Superintendents M C Pazhayamadom, Ajayakumar and Mohanan and officers Avarachan, Venugopal and Jayasree assisted Deputy Commissioner C Madhavan to seize the rare turtles.