Malaysian authorities seized 330 exotic tortoises from Madagascar worth 1.2 million ringgit ($276,721), in the latest heist of illegal wildlife and animal parts being smuggled into the country.
325 Indian Star tortoises and five Ploughshare tortoises were packed into five boxes and labeled as stones. The live tortoises, usually kept as pets, arrived via Etihad Airways from Antanaviro Airport in Madagascar.
The import of exotic tortoises requires a special permit from Malaysia’s Wildlife Department.
Earlier airport customs officials seized African pangolin scales worth $2.1 million at the airport cargo warehouse.
Last month, they confiscated 18 rhino horns worth $3.1 million believed to have been flown in from Mozambique and declared as art objects.