One held, 723 star tortoises seized

In a pre-dawn operation today, the customs commissionerate (preventive) of Kochi took into custody one Kather Meera, a native of Tirupathur in Shivagangai district of Tamil Nadu, while he was attempting to smuggle out 723 star tortoises at the international airport here.

P Ayyam Perumal, commissioner of customs (preventive) said that the value of the seized tortoises in the international market would be approximately Rs 36 lakh.

Star tortoises are in good demand in South East Asian countries, especially in Singapore and Malaysia due to a popular belief that they bring luck to those who possess them.

"Star tortoises are also used as pets and for medicinal purposes in some South East Asian countries."

He said that the accused had apparently brought the tortoises packed in cardboard cartons from Chennai to smuggle them to Malaysia.

The accused admitted to having smuggled star tortoises out of India on several occasions. It is for the first time that such a case came to light at the international airport here, he said.

Weighing between 15 gms to 250 gms, these tortoises, which are protected under the schedule 3 of the Wildlife Protection Act and prohibited under the Customs Act and Foreign Trade Policy, are easy to carry and fetch between $ 40"�$250 in the markets abroad.

These creatures are found in large numbers in the jungles of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Ayyam Perumal said that airports in Kerala had become one of the channels of animal smuggling from India. The department would take serious action to curb the menace, he said.