Saturday, August 05, 2023

Flyer from Thailand nabbed with 2 Raccoon Dogs at Kempegowda International Airport

Bengaluru: A Chennai resident, who attempted to smuggle two Common Raccoon Dogs, a wild animal, from Thailand by concealing it in the check-in baggage of his flight was caught redhanded at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) recently, said Customs sources. Unfortunately, one of the raccoon dogs died at the airport while the other was sent back to Thailand.

The incident happened on July 28 around midnight just after the Thai Airways International flight TG 325 reached KIA. The flyer (name withheld) had been penalised Rs 80,000 and also booked under the Customs Act 1962. Common Raccoon Dog is a small, wild animal and is closely related to foxes. It belongs to the Canidae family and is unique in this species as it hibernates during winters and can climb trees. 

“The 26-year-old flyer had kept the two Common Raccoon Dogs in separate baskets. He had placed them inside a suitcase he had checked-in at Thailand by placing them in the midst of noodles and biscuits. This helps in avoiding detection of it through the scanner,” a source told TNIE.

The Bengaluru Airport Customs office got a tip-off about the smuggling of the wild animals by the flight. “We narrowed down on him based on data base profiling and his behaviour. When his suitcase was opened, we found both the animals alive inside the baskets. Unfortunately, one of them died sometime after it was rescued possibly due to the 3.5-hr travel and was buried nearby. The other animal was deported to Thailand through Thai Airways with the assistance of the Wildlife department of the Thailand government,” another source added.

The individual had no documents on him pertaining to their transporation and he was bringing them stealthily, he added. He also had one case booked against him in Chennai earlier for smuggling some other animal.

05/08/2023 S Lalitha/New Indian Express

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

0 comments:

Post a Comment