PENAMPANG: Sabah wildlife enforcement personnel nabbed two people for illegal possession of a pangolin worth RM880 at Donggongon town here, this afternoon.
Acting on a tip-off, Sabah Wildlife Department deployed the team to a carpark area at the town to intercept an animal trafficking activity in progress.
Its director Augustine Tuuga, in a statement said the suspects were a local man and woman, both aged 42 from Penampang.
“They were trying to sell the pangolin to a ‘customer’ at the parking lot, where the transaction was supposed to take place.
“The pangolin was found in a sack placed at the back seat of the woman’s Proton Persona car,” he said, adding that the man had earlier offered to sell the pangolin via social media.
Tuuga said the live pangolin weighs about four kilogrammes (kg) and the duo were trying to sell it for RM220 per kg.
They were detained for investigation under Section 41(2) of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 for illegal possession of a protected species.
The offence carries a fine between RM30,000 and RM100,000 or jail term between one year and three years or both, if convicted.
On Oct 26, wildlife enforcement team had also nabbed two men aged 25 and 27 from Papar for illegal possession of a live pangolin.