Malaysia arrests six members of the 'ninja turtle gang' and seizes turtles. July 9, 2024

A member of the Royal Malaysian Customs holds seized red-eared slider turtles during a press conference at the customs authority building in Sepang on June 26, 2019, following a failed smuggling attempt by a syndicate. (AFP/File)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Malaysia arrests six members of the 'ninja turtle gang' and seizes turtles.

Malaysian authorities have arrested six members of an international criminal gang known as the "Ninja Turtle Gang" and seized around 200 smuggled turtles and terrapins, a wildlife official said Tuesday.

Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, director-general of Malaysia's Wildlife and National Parks Department, said four Cambodians and two Malaysians were arrested during a raid on a house in Kuala Lumpur on July 2 by police and wildlife officials.

He told AFP that around 200 turtles and terrapins, worth an estimated 246,394 ringgit (US$52,300), were rescued during the raid, the second seizure in Malaysia in less than a week.

Many people in Asia believe that turtles and tortoises bring good luck and prosperity.

Abdul Kadir said the six arrested belong to the Ninja Turtle Gang, an international crime network involved in reptile smuggling.

Police and wildlife authorities rescued 400 turtles during an initial raid on June 29, which were to be sold in Southeast Asia and were worth $805,084 on the black market.

The animals rescued in the latest raid included the critically endangered Chinese stripe-necked turtle, which is also known as the golden thread turtle, Abdul Kadir said.

Other species included the endangered black pond turtle, the snapping turtle, the sulcata turtle, the leopard turtle, and the red-footed tortoise, found throughout South America and on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Barbados.

"Initial investigations revealed that the reptiles were smuggled from abroad to serve the lucrative pet market," said Abdul Kadir.

Three snakes, four soft-shelled turtles, a weasel, and five frogs were also discovered.

The rescued animals were being held in a quarantine center run by the Malaysian wildlife department.

The reptiles are brought illegally into Malaysia by road or in suitcases by smugglers on board commercial flights, Abdul Kadir said last week.

Traffic, a wildlife NGO, said that Southeast Asian countries "act as sources, consumers and warehouses for wildlife originating from the region and the rest of the world".

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