Authorities rescued 1,104 exotic animals from a Dhaka house, arrested one suspect, and launched a wider investigation into an alleged wildlife trafficking network involved in illegal imports and sales.
Bangladeshi authorities have rescued 1,104 exotic wild animals from a house in the capital’s Rupnagar area and arrested one man on charges of illegally possessing wildlife intended for trade and trafficking, officials said on Friday.
The Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU) of the Forest Department carried out the raid after receiving confidential information about the illegal operation, WCCU Inspector Asim Mallik confirmed.
The suspect, identified as 35-year-old Kazi Sajid Ullah Dastagir, has been charged under Section 33 of the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2026. He was produced before a court, which ordered that he be sent to jail.
Mallik said the animals had been imported into Bangladesh illegally and were being kept for sale and trafficking.
“Bringing these animals into Bangladesh from abroad is illegal. We launched the operation after receiving information that a network had smuggled these wild animals into the country. Preliminary findings suggest the group was selling the animals in the local market as well as trafficking them,” he said.
According to a WCCU press release, the raid was conducted on July 2 at a house in Section 6 of T Block in Rupnagar. The operation was carried out with assistance from the environmental organization Bangladesh Wildlife Alliance (BWA).
Authorities recovered two corn snakes, one Mexican black kingsnake, one golden chakuni tarantula, one blood leg tarantula, one dumpy frog, one leopard gecko, one round-tail leopard gecko, 846 red-eared slider turtles, 18 pink-bellied sideneck turtles, 138 Reeves’s turtles, 56 common snapping turtles and 38 yellow-eared slider turtles.
A total of 1,104 animals were seized during the operation, including 21 that were found dead.
The WCCU said preliminary questioning of the suspect revealed that several other individuals were involved in the illegal wildlife trade. Efforts are underway to identify and arrest the remaining members of the network.
This post is republished from Bangla Stream.
