One of the suspects with bags of sea turtle eggs.
KUCHING: Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) enforcement team arrested two suspects found to be in the possession of 652 sea-turtle eggs during a patrol at Pasar Tamu Kubah Ria on Saturday.
Both suspects, who were caught red-handed displaying the eggs for sale, were brought to the police station for investigation and further action.
The first suspect, a 65-year old, was nabbed at 9.45am with 214 sea-turtle eggs while the second suspect, aged 26, was caught around 3pm with 438.
The penalty for anyone who hunts, kills, keeps, sells or consumes protected animal is 1-year imprisonment and a fine of RM10,000 while, in the case of sea-turtle which is totally protected wildlife in Sarawak, the maximum fine is RM50,000 and jail for five years.
Packs of wild boar meat at the market.
“The state government has allocated RM70 million for Sarawak Forestry to deploy reef balls along the state shoreline to conserve and protect the marine life especially the sea-turtles. Other than that, we are also promoting sea-turtle adoption and conservation programme to the public as part of our efforts,” said SFC chief executive officer Zolkipli Mohamad Aton in a press statement issued yesterday.
In a separate case, enforcement officers from Kuching Regional Office seized 17 packs of wild boar meat at Market Bandar Riyal Kota Samarahan and detained a 62-year old suspect.
According to Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998, commercial sale of bearded pigs is strictly prohibited. The seller can be fined up to RM5,000 while the buyer can be fined up to RM2,000. Those who have more than five kilograms will be deemed as having the intent to sell it.
“SFC has conducted relentless operations throughout the state and have once again proven successful in the campaign against illegal wildlife trade. However, we will continue to address illegal wildlife trade and crime to protect and conserve flora and fauna in Sarawak. We are serious in combatting and eradicating the illegal wildlife trade and its supply chain,” he said.
Members of the public with information on wildlife trade are encouraged to report through SFC hotlines in Kuching (019-8859996, 016-8565564), Sibu (013-8110150, 019-8883561), Bintulu (019-8223449, 019-8332737), or Miri (019-8224566, 019-8290994).