AUTHORITIES FIND 1,529 TURTLES ABANDONED AT MANILA AIRPORT
Animal Smuggling is such an ugly business. But it is a business. So that means demand being met by a supplier, or smuggler in this case. Authorities at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino Airport found 4 checked-in luggage bags filled with 1,529 turtles wrapped in duct tape. Yes, duct tape. I really hope they catch this guy. But anyway this animal smuggler abandoned his bags which is how they ended up in unclaimed baggage. The turtle filled bags flew into the Philippines on a flight from Hong Kong. So far, there’s no word on an arrest or who the suspect is.
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ANIMAL SMUGGLER DUCT TAPED AND PACKED POOR TURTLES INTO 4 BAGS
But this guy was looking to score and score big. That’s because these turtles had a value of roughly $90,000 USD. That’s right, that’s a lot of money. But this discovery even shocked local police. Yes, they have seen animal smuggling tons of times. But they never expected to see such efficient cruelty. But seriously. The smuggler duct taped them to keep them still and then packed them into four bags. That’s almost a new definition of evil.
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TURTLES WORTH $90,000, BUT SMUGGLER GOT COLD FEET AND ABANDONED BAGS
So the Bureau of Customs confiscated the bags and animals. The turtles were rare and protected species, of course. So we’re talking star tortoises, red-footed tortoises, sulcate tortoises and red-eared sliders. Authorities later moved the poor reptiles to a monitoring unit for safekeeping. They think that the animal smuggler got nervous when they saw all the posted signs warning everyone about the penalties for smuggling. You can get two years behind bars as well as a big fine. But not as big as those turtles were worth. But this problem won’t go away. Just in 2018, Filipino customs seized 560 different types of wildlife alone. Now, they can add several species of turtles to the list.
