KUALA LUMPUR: The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) will continue its hunt to track down the remaining members of the 'Ninja Turtle Gang' involved in the smuggling and sale of wildlife in the black market.
This follows Perhilitan's success in busting Southeast Asia's largest turtle trafficking syndicate on July 2, which operates in the Klang Valley.
After a raid in Subang Jaya and the syndicate headquarters based in Ampang, Selangor, Perhilitan confiscated more than 400 turtles including the Chinese-Stripe Necked Turtle, Black Pond Turtles, Snapping Turtles, Red Eared Slider turtles and Softshell turtles.
Its director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said the operation to combat wildlife trafficking is done through Khazanah Integrated Operations (OBK) led by Perhilitan's Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) officer Celescoriano Razond, joined by six members of the General Operations Force.
"Intelligence has been carried out for the past two weeks to track the remnants of a gang smuggling protected and endangered turtle species from India and Africa.
"In an operation at 4.23 pm yesterday, we raided a house in Cheras, here. A local man in his 50s was ordered to open the door before the authorities found four more individuals including two Cambodians.
"We found various protected wildlife including five Indian Star Tortoises, a Pig Nosed Turtle, a Sulcata Tortoise and a Leopard Tortoise."
He said Perhilitan also confiscated elephant tusks and a crocodile skull from the same premises.
"The homeowner failed to present a license or permit that allows keeping the wildlife under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010," Kadir added.
Following the first arrest, Perhilitan then conducted a second operation and arrested two suspects in Cheras.
In the second operation, they seized a Testudo tortoise, two Radiated Tortoises, two Sulcata tortoises and a Pig-Nosed Turtle.
In total, the estimated value of the seized turtle species is worth close to RM1 million.