2 Sri Lankans held at BIA for smuggling sea cucumbers

Bangalore: For the first time, Customs authorities on Tuesday seized 152 kg of endangered sea cucumbers worth Rs 30 lakh from two Sri Lankan nationals at the Bengaluru International Airport.
The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), Customs, arrested the father and son duo –– Mohammed Rafeek Mohideen and Mohammed Rafad Mohammed Rafeek –– of Sri Lanka at the airport when the consignment of sea cucumbers was in the process of being smuggled out to Singapore. A local court on Wednesday remanded the two to custody till December 26.
Customs Commissioner Bani Bhattacharya said:?“They were carrying the dead sea cucumbers in six bags. They appeared extremely nervous when they were stopped after they checked in the baggage.”
The contraband was seized under the Customs Act, 1962 (read with Wildlife Protection Act, 1972). It is noteworthy that Mohammed Rafad was also booked by Customs officials in Chennai for smuggling Sea Horses in August 2010 and the matter is sub judice in Chennai.
The smuggling of sea cucumber, which has high medicinal and aphrodisiac value, is rampant due to its high prices in the international market, they said, expressing surprise over Sri Lankan nationals being caught for smuggling it, and that too in Bangalore.
“The big markets are in places like China, Singapore and Malaysia. The general route taken while smuggling sea cucumbers is through the sea to Myanmar and then to China, from where it goes to the international market,” an official said.
14/12/11 Chethan Kumar/Deccan Herald

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Categories: airports Dec 2011, Foreign Dec 2011