400 tortoises seized at Dhaka airport
Image: www.bbc.co.uk
Bangladeshi customs officials acting on a tip-off at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport have confiscated over 400 tortoises, including three specimens from an endangered species, found in the luggage of two passengers flying from India to Bangkok. Two Indian nationals have been arrested and the tortoises have been taken to a conservation centre.
The illegal trade in wild animals in the region commonly features routes through Bangladesh and these tortoises are believed to have originated in neighbouring India. The confiscated tortoises would command an approximate value of £22,000 ($35,000, 3 million Bangladeshi taka) on the black market, and the trade in tortoises is a lucrative one due to their sale as exotic pets and use in oriental medicine.
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