<![CDATA[Officials of the Chennai customs found live tortoises stuffed in the suitcases of Habeeb (48), who had arrived in Chennai airport by an early morning flight from Malaysia. According to airport sources, customs Habeeb was intercepted by officials when he was coming out of the customs clearance area and he was interrogated. He later admitted to have carried the live cargo. Customs officials said as per the Animal Quarantine rules, live cargo are not to be allowed to land in the country and should be deported. Officials said, “So we deported the live cargo back to Malaysia in the 11 am flight,” a customs official said. The reverse smuggling is a rare occurrence at Chennai airport’’. Normally, customs officials come across attempts to smuggle green turtles and star tortoises from Chennai to countries like China, Thailand and Malaysia, as they are considered a delicacy in these countries. There are also people who rear them as pets. But according to wildlife officials most of the smuggling of star tortoises is being done to cater to the restaurant business in these countries. A source said, the smuggled turtles and tortoises command a good rate in those markets, which is one of the reasons for the numerous attempts to smuggle them from the state. ]]>
