CUSTOMS OPENED 23 IPS ON WILDLIFE SMUGGLING SO FAR THIS YEAR
KUCHING, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- A total of 23 investigation papers (IPs) were opened so far this year involving various offences related to the crime of smuggling endangered wildlife throughout the country, said Assistant Director-General of Customs (Enforcement) Ribuan Abdullah.
He said so far, no charges have been made for all the cases investigated under the Customs Act 1967 and the International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008, with the value of the seizure reaching RM73.4 million.
"Some of the cases are still in the (feedback) stage from the Deputy Public Prosecutor and some are still in the investigation stage," he told a press conference after the Operasi Bersepadu Khazanah (OBK) 2022 meeting here, today.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain and Director-General of Perhilitan (Department of Wildlife and National Parks Malaysia) Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim were also present at the press conference.
In the meantime, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) also submitted 15 cases to the wildlife authorities in Sabah and Sarawak involving attempts to bring wildlife without approval across the two states.
Ribuan said there was an increase in cases of wildlife trade activity from the peninsula to Sabah and Sarawak last year, but he could not specify the number of cases involved.
Meanwhile, Razarudin said the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) have been allocated 50 new staff to handle the Wildlife Crime Bureau (WCB) and all the officers involved are stationed in Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur.
He added that WCB is part of efforts to enforce OBK from the aspect of intelligence, investigation and arrests together with the relevant agencies.
"So far there are already 16 personnel comprising police officers and civilians. This shows the government's determination to ensure that national treasures such as the Malayan tiger species are preserved and we want to increase its population," he added.
OBK is led by Perhilitan and PDRM together with the JKDM with the participation of various relevant parties at the federal and state levels, aiming to deal with the issue of smuggling out national treasures.
This operation also aims to ensure that Malaysia does not become a transit centre for illegal wildlife trade from around the world.
-- BERNAMA
