Another wildlife smuggling racket busted at Bengaluru airport

Customs officials on Monday caught a 20-year-old passenger allegedly trying to smuggle 40 wild animals and reptiles concealed in his check-in bag into Bengaluru from Bangkok.

The accused, Shafiqur Rahman Sirajuddin from Tamil Nadu, was caught when he landed at the Kempegowda International Airport with three bags containing four Argentine black and white tegus, 27 green iguanas, one corn snake, two meerkats, two bearded dragons, one Indonesian blue-tongued skink, and three western basilisks.

The live wildlife was stuffed in the check-in bag along with tissue papers and diapers.

A probe revealed that Sirajuddin was allegedly a mule for a smuggling network and was supposed to hand over the baggage to his contact. However, the accused escaped as soon as Sirajuddin was detained and taken into custody for questioning.

This is the third smuggling attempt that occurred this August.

On August 4, Air Intelligence Unit of Customs at Kempegowda International Airport intercepted 29-year-old Ashik Ali Shahul trying to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur with 30 Indian star tortoises.

On August 6, the officials intercepted a check-in baggage of a passenger trying to fly to Kuala Lumpur containing 896 Indian star tortoises.