Custom dept seizes six live tortoises at Delhi airport

NEW DELHI : Customs department officials seized two big and four small live tortoises from a bag being carried by a passenger who arrived at the Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport from Riyadh.

The incident was reported on September 6. The passenger had been detained on the suspicion of carrying gold illegally. But when the search of his baggage revealed nothing, he left leaving a poly bag behind. The bag was discovered after the left the airport. When it was opened, the officials found six live tortoises.

Unaware of the species, the customs officials spent the entire day to find out the details. Wildlife experts were roped in, who identified it as the red-eared terrapin. They said it’s an invasive species as it competes with the natives and is in high demand as a pet among the rich the world over. Having identified the animals, the customs started the process to send them back.

Following the incident, an alert was issued to airports across the country.

“It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States and Mexico and is in demand all over the world. It is described as an invasive species but is not listed in the prohibited category. So, it was a violation of the Customs Act as the owner had not declared it but it was not a violation of Wildlife Act. As the experts feared that it will outnumber Indian species if left here, we decided to send it back,” said a customs official.

India is a hub for tortoise smuggling and an estimated 10,000 tortoises of different species are smuggled to China and Thailand every year with India as the transit country.

“In India, the smugglers source the animals mostly from Uttar Pradesh. From there, they are taken to either Lucknow or Delhi airport. We need to train the baggage screeners since these animals are smuggled in the check-in luggage,” said a customs official.