Jembrana Bali Police Fails To Smuggle 19 Green Turtles

Jembrana Resort Police (Polres), Bali showed as many as 19 green turtles (Chelonia mydas) at the Jembrana Police, Bali, Sunday (19/11/2023). ANTARA/Gembong Ismadi

BALI - Jembrana Police, Bali, thwarted the smuggling of 19 green turtles (Chelonia mydas). Some of them are over 50 years old. "We received information that there was a pickup truck carrying turtles. When we stopped the vehicle and carried out an inspection, we found a turtle covered with tarpaulins, ” said Jembrana Police Chief AKBP I Dewa Gde Juliana in the country, as reported by Antara, Sunday, November 19. He said the pick-up car driven by RBD (29) from Gilimanuk Village, Melaya District was stopped while crossing Jalan Baluk Village, Negara District, last Saturday before midnight. “ From Gilimanuk, the perpetrator deliberately took a rural road so that the officers would not know. Only occasionally enter the Denpasar-Gilimanuk highway when there is no inter-village road linkage, ” he said. After being secured, the police immediately contacted several related parties such as the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA), the Kurma Asih Turtle Conservation Group to experts from the Indonesian Animal Network (JSI) to save the turtles. Meanwhile, turtle expert from the Indonesian Animal Network, Vemke Denhaas, said that the condition of the turtles, although they looked healthy, actually experienced stress because they had been out of the sea for too long. "We will return these turtles to the sea as soon as possible to be fully healthy. Now we are still making observations to anticipate if a turtle is sick," he said. He also admitted that his party had taken an example of the turtle's blood, which was one of its functions to determine the origin of the protected animal. “ We see the age of this turtle varies. Some are over 50 years old, some are only 8 years old. Most are females, ” he said. The plan is that after observing the Turtle Kurma Asih Conservation Group in Pericak Village, Jembarana District, the dozens of turtles will be released into the sea.

Meanwhile, the driver of the RBD pick-up car underwent further legal proceedings, as well as the police confiscated a pick-up car with Nopol DK1169XX as evidence.