KUDAT: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency thwarted an attempt to smuggle exotic wildlife products, including endangered species in a special operation off Kudat waters on Tuesday.
Kudat Maritime Zone Director, Hasbullah Omar said the success stemmed from intelligence gathered by the MMEA Intelligence Unit, which detected suspicious activity in the Malawali Straits around 2am.
Acting on the information, a team was deployed to the location and spotted a vessel some 1.8 nautical miles northwest of Tanjung Layang-Layang, Pitas.
Hasbullah said an inspection revealed no individuals aboard the boat, but further checks uncovered several types of dried and frozen exotic wildlife.
“Among the seized items were 20 polystyrene boxes containing an estimated 500kg of frozen giant clams, eight sacks of dried giant clams weighing over 200kg and five polystyrene boxes holding an estimated 100kg of frozen pangolins,” he said.
Hasbullah noted that all confiscated items were believed destined for a neighbouring country with high demand for exotic delicacies and prohibited wildlife products.
The boat and its cargo, estimated to be worth over RM100,000, were towed to Kudat Marina Jetty for further investigation.
The case is being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 and the Fisheries Act 1985 for attempted smuggling of endangered species and unauthorised handling of marine products.
The public, particularly maritime communities, are urged to report smuggling or maritime crime activities via Kudat Operations Centre 088-611858 or the Emergency Hotline 999.
