Odisha police launches drive to bust pangolin smuggling racket

A special unit of the Odisha Police has launched a drive to bust an international syndicate that peddles "endangered" pangolin, one of the world's most illegally traded mammals, a top officer said today.

"We have already moved the government, and a process has been initiated to crack the international pangolin smuggling racket, possibly with the help of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT)," Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) R P Sharma told PTI here.

MLAT is an agreement between nations to exchange information or provide legal assistance for enforcing laws.

Stating that an organised international network smuggles pangolin for its scales, Sharma said some of the racketeers have been arrested recently.

"As the members of the network also operate from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, we are making an effort to get hold of them by exploring the MLAT provisions. The matter is being forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which could then approach the Myanmar government for necessary assistance," the DGP asserted.

The move to bust the global racket has gained pace after six persons, who were involved in smuggling pangolin scales from Odisha, West Bengal and Mizoram to Myanmar and China, were arrested earlier this year.

Himanshu Lal, the DIG of the Special Task Force (STF) of state Crime Branch, said the key players in India have been arrested, while those operating from China and Myanmar are yet to be nabbed.

The STF is planning to approach the Interpol to bust the international network of pangolin smuggling, for which adequate preparations are being made at present, he said.

Stressing that pangolin poaching is rampant in districts like Kandhamal, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Boudh and Rayagada, Lal said the "main consumer" of Pangolin scales happens to be China, where they have a huge demand for medicinal purposes.

"It seems that illegal pangolin trade has grown considerably in Odisha over the years. The animal scales are usually smuggled by road and trains to China via north-eastern states," he added.

Several important facts about the illegal trade have come to light following the interrogation of two persons who were arrested from Daspalla area of Nayagarh district last month, a senior police official said, adding the duo were collecting scales from poachers in Odisha as well as other states such as Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Biswajit Mohanty, a member of Wildlife Society of Orissa, said the Ganjam-Nayagarh-Kandhamal belt of Odisha has become a hub of illegal pangolin trade in the recent years.

"During monsoons, teams of smugglers from outside visit the area to procure scales of the animal," the wildlife expert said.

Noting that the illegal trade is lucrative as it ensures huge profits, he said the law enforcement agencies and the forest officials must take immediate steps to check poaching of the endangered species.