9 wildlife smuggling cases unearthed at CSMIA in 6 months

MUMBAI: With nine cases of wildlife smuggling being unearthed at Mumbai Airport since February this year, the city, which was a major hub of this sort of contraband in the 1990s, is fast regaining the unsavoury title. Wildlife activists say that many more cases may have gone unnoticed.

- Yogesh Naik

From Meerkats to Star Tortoises and different kinds of lizards, all kinds of exotic species are being smuggled into Mumbai. The Customs department and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau have now taken the decision to immediately deport them after giving them the necessary medical care. An orangutan smuggled and found last year in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region is still in the Nagpur zoo.

Two of the largest seizures happened on July 10 and Il when Meerkats, Sumatran Rabbits, Great-Billed Parrots and Indo-Chinese Box Turtles were confiscated at Mumbai Airport. The wildlife species were with two Indian passengers caught by Customs coming by two separate flights.

A senior Customs officer posted in Mumbai said, “We nab such people on suspicion or when we have information. But these transporters are not the real brains behind the racket. They are merely poor people who carry them, and when we catch them, the court gives us custody for a day or two.”