SELANGOR STATE, Malaysia (Reuters) — Customs officers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport seized 330 endangered tortoises on Monday (May 15).
The tortoises flew in from Madagascar on May 14, on Etihad Airways, and had been documented in the manifest as “stones,” Kuala Lumpur Airport Custom Deputy Director Abdul Wahid Sulong told reporters.
The 330 tortoises are valued at 1.2 million Ringgit ($277.000), he added.
Malaysia is a major transit point for the trade in endangered species to other Asian countries.