KUDAT: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) yesterday thwarted an attempt to smuggle out 51 sacks of dried turtle meat.
Meat from the endangered species, weighing 765kg, was confiscated at 10.27pm along the coastline some 0.5 nautical miles northeast of Kampung Tajau Laut, here.
The Op Pluto Timur/ Op Tiris operation team also seized 19 sacks of sea cucumbers.
The items were estimated to worth RM500,000 in total.
Kudat maritime zone director, Maritime Commander Maurice Grenville Abeyeratne, said that acting on intelligence, one of their patrol boats was dispatched to the area to inspect a vessel.
He said that shallow waters made it difficult for the patrol boat to approach the boat for inspection.
"Realising the presence of the operation team, the suspects escaped into a nearby shallow area.
"We then deployed our land assets to the location to conduct inspections in the area as the patrol boat could not get close to the shore," he said in a media statement today.
The authorities believe that the syndicate is responsible for the deaths of almost 1,000 turtles.
He said the case is being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 for attempting to smuggle meat from endangered species.