Passenger held at Bengaluru airport for smuggling endangered primates from Bangkok

Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) officials of the Customs Department at Kempegowda International Airport intercepted a 27-year-old passenger arriving from Bangkok on Thursday and seized three endangered primates he was attempting to smuggle into the city.

The accused, identified as Ranitha Rajan R, was allegedly caught while walking towards the exit point with the backpack when officials pinned him down and found that he was carrying a silvery gibbon and two black-shanked doucs, both of which are listed under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

A third black-shanked douc was found dead due to suffocation.

The man was taken into custody under provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. The rescued animals have been handed over to wildlife authorities for care and rehabilitation, officials added.