KUALA LUMPUR: An enforcement officer linked to an international syndicate involved in smuggling and disposing of pangolin scales at the country's entry point will be charged at the Shah Alam Sessions Court tomorrow.
According to a source, the suspect, an officer, was arrested mid last year by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's Anti-Money Laundering Division as part of a special operation codenamed Op Jaguar.
The source said the suspect, in his 50s, was alleged to have accepted bribes from the syndicate as inducement not to handover the seized pangolin scales to the Wildlife Department.
"The suspect is believed to have withheld approximately 1.8 tonnes of confiscated pangolin scales, seized by Customs, from the department for disposal.
"The acts were allegedly committed between September and December 2019 at the Klang North Port marine enforcement base storage," said the source.
It was reported that the pangolin scales were believed to have been smuggled into the country which is the transit point before being sent to China and other countries with high demand.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had stated that Malaysia was a source country and transit point in the trafficking and smuggling of endangered wildlife like tiger, pangolin, elephant tusk and turtles.
Op Jaguar conducted mid last year in Klang, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur saw MACC's seizure of close to two tonnes of pangolin scales, valued at RM23.4 million, which was estimated sales can reach RM13,000 per kg in the black market.
The operations, conducted based on information from enforcement agencies from the United States, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, crippled the syndicate which was believed to have also bribed enforcement officers and involved in money laundering activities.
In the operations, MACC also seized various luxury cars and froze several bank accounts with millions of ringgit believed to be owned by the syndicate.
The seizure and freeze on all the assets were done after 10 individuals including a company owner and syndicate agents comprising Malaysians, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Nepali were arrested in the special ops.
Meanwhile, MACC AML director Datuk Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin confirmed the suspect would be charged under Section 403 of the Penal Code.