As TN officials tighten grip, monkey smuggling jumps over to Andamans

In a first, Customs at Port Blair airport seizes eight exotic monkeys from 2 Tamil-origin men

- SIDDHARTH PRABHAKAR @Chennai

FOR the first time in the airport's history, Customs and wildlife officials at the Port Blair international airport in Andaman and Nicobar Islands registered a case of exotic species smuggling against two Singapore citizens who arrived from Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, sources said. Based on intelligence, eight baby monkeys identified as pig-tailed macaque and gibbons were recovered from the bags of brothers MI Muhammed Abdullah and Mohammed Alavudeen who had travelled on the Air Asia flight AK55.

Originally from Kanniyakumari, the accused were on their way to Bengaluru, where the animals were to be delivered, the sources said.