114 Wildlife Smuggling at Ahmad Yani Port Successfully Intercepted by BKSDA Maluku

AMBON - The smuggling of 114 wild animals was successfully thwarted by the Maluku Province Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), which was transported using a passenger ship on the Sorong-Ternate route at Ahmad Yani Port.

"Security was carried out at the Ahmad Yani Port after the head of the KSDA Section I Ternate together with the joint team received information from the ship's crew regarding irregularities in one of the passenger rooms," said the Forestry Police (Polhut) of the Maluku BKSDA, Arga Chrystan, in Ambon, Tuesday.

The operation, which took place from 13.00-20.48 WIT, involved elements of the North Maluku Air and Air Police Directorate (Ditpolairud), Lanal Ternate, the North Maluku Animal, Fish and Plant Quarantine Office (BKHIT), and local port authorities.

From the results of the examination in room numbers 6028 and 6055, officers found various types of wildlife from Papua who were suspected of being smuggled to Surabaya, East Java. The animals include the Papua oil lizard, Papua forest lizard, Maluku gecko, black albert snake, gold adder snake, green tree python, death adder, white kuskus, brown kuskus, totol kuskus, to nemena tree kangaroos.

A total of 114 wild animals were successfully secured, consisting of 100 animals in a live condition and 14 dead. Two suspected perpetrators were also secured to undergo further legal proceedings.

"Officers then evacuated the animals to be moved, examined their health, and placed in a transit cage for the recovery process before further handling," he said.

BKSDA Maluku stated that this success is proof of the joint commitment of the authorities in breaking the chain of illegal trade in plants and wildlife (TSL), as well as maintaining the sustainability of Indonesia's biodiversity from cross-regional smuggling practices.

He also emphasized that he would continue to increase supervision on sea transportation routes that are prone to becoming wildlife entry and exit points, as well as strengthening coordination with law enforcement and the community to prevent the practice of trading protected animals.

Based on the provisions of Law No. 5 of 1990 concerning the Conservation of Natural Living Resources and their Ecosystems, anyone who intentionally catches, injures, kills, stores, owns, maintains, transports, and trades protected animals (Article 21 paragraph (2) letter a), is threatened with imprisonment for a maximum of five years and a fine of up to Rp. 100 million (Article 40 paragraph (2)).