KLIA Customs seizes pangolin scales worth RM9.18 mln
SEPANG: In what is believed to be the largest case involving the smuggling of pangolin scales into the country, the customs officers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport ( KLIA) foiled two attempts early this month to smuggle scales weighing 712kg.
According to the Wildlife and National Parks Department, about 1,400 anteaters were estimated to have been killed to obtain the scales worth about RM9.18 million, for use as traditional medicine to cure fever, malaria and boost energy although there is no scientific evidence to back such claim.
Customs principal assistant director Datuk Paddy Abd Halim said in the first case, eight gunny sacks containing the pangolin scales arrived at the KLIA on May 1, via Emirates airline from Accra, Ghana, which was on transit in Dubai before flying to KLIA.
“A KLIA Customs enforcement team conducted a search on the gunny sacks on May 2 and found 408 kg of pangolin scales valued at RM5.26 million,” he told reporters here yesterday.
He said in the second case the following day, 10 gunny sacks believed to contain the prohibited item arrived via Kenya Airways from Kinshasa, Congo to Nairobi in Kenya and was on transit in Dubai before the goods were transferred to an Emirates airline flight to KLIA.
Paddy said a check on the consignment on May 3, found about 304kg of pangolin scales worth RM3.92 million.
“For the first case, the gunny sacks were declared as general products in the airway bill while in the second case, it was recorded as dried herbs,” he said, adding that all the gunny sacks were addressed to a company bearing fake address in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.
Imports of pangolin are prohibited under the Third Schedule of the International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008 (Act 686), except with permit.
Meanwhile, Wildlife and National Parks Department enforcement division deputy director Rozidan Md Yasin said more than 1,400 pangolins had been killed for their scales.
He said a pangolin weighing between 5 and 7 kilogrammes yielded about 0.5kg of scales.
“Pangolin scales are usually used as traditional medicine to cure fever and malaria although there is no scientific evidence to support such claim,” he added. — Bernama
A KLIA Customs enforcement team conducted a search on the gunny sacks on May 2 and found 408kg of pangolin scales valued at RM5.26 million. Datuk Paddy Abd Halim, Customs principal assistant director