LIVE exotic animals disguised as aquarium fish worth RM 1.67m, smuggled from Malaysia, were seized by Indian authorities recently.
According to The Times of India report, Mumbai’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) was handed information regarding a consignment that contained live exotic animals made to look like aquarium fish that would arrive at Sahar on 5 October from Malaysia.
It was when the DRI arrived at the spot they found that customs had cleared the delivery.
The officials subsequently proceeded to take the vehicle number down to track it and managed to intercept it at a flyover.
Officials then discovered that the consignment contained 30 packages where 16 boxes had declared items like various ornamental fishes and 13 other boxes had 665 undeclared reptiles such as turtles, tortoise, pythons, lizards, and iguanas.
Authorities calculated that 548 animals were found alive, while 117 died during the embargo.
Upon further investigation, officials uncovered a local resident, Victor Lobo, 36, who was in contact with an international supplier named David Lu, who allegedly organised the whole operation.
The captured animals are mentioned in the Appendices of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), signed by 175 countries, including India and Malaysia.
