A SFC enforcement officer unloading stacks of baskets containing the endangered species from the vehicle.
KUCHING: An Indonesian woman and a local man, who are both in their 30s, have been arrested after the woman tried to smuggle out 1,060 Magpie and White-rumped Shama birds at an illegal border crossing near Tebedu yesterday.
The birds, which are protected species, are valued at about RM848,000.
General Operations Force 11th Battalion Commanding Officer, Supt Rosdi Inai said the duo were arrested during an operation held-jointly by GOF with Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Sarawak.
He said the woman had claimed that the birds belonged to her.
“Although the suspect had a valid travel document, she could not produce any document of ownership or permit to carry the protected species of birds with her,” he told a press conference today.
Rosdi said the local man was arrested when he tried to offer the enforcement personnel a bribe to release the woman and the birds after she was nabbed.
The woman could be charged under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1988 and the male suspect under be charged under the MACC Act 2009, he said.
On their modus operandi, Rosdi said the birds were kept in baskets that were transported in a small lorry to a location where they would be unloaded by the main road as the lorry could not access the illegal entry point.
“Once off-loaded from the lorry, the baskets of birds would be picked up by the transporters using motorcycles on round trips,” he said.
SFC said in a press statement that the rescued birds will be sent to the Matang Wildlife Centre.
Its general manager, Oswald Braken Tisen, thanked members of the public and all parties involved in the operations, for their diligence with which they had handled the joint operation.
“Through our collaboration, we are ensuring the protection and conservation of wildlife. Close collaboration with different enforcement agencies undoubtedly boosts the effectiveness and dissuasiveness of our action.”
Members of the public can lodge a report with SFC if they find anyone hunting, capturing, killing, trading, keeping as pets, importing or exporting of protected wildlife by contacting its hotlines at 0168565564/0198859996 (Kuching), 0198883561 (Sibu), 0198223449/0198332737 (Bintulu) and 0198290994/0189799778 (Miri).