The arrestee is Jakir Hossain, a resident of Kolkata, West Bengal, according his passport
In a major anti-trafficking raid, the authorities seized four kilograms of bird claws and arrested an Indian citizen for allegedly trying to smuggle them into Bangladesh on Friday night.
The arrestee is Jakir Hossain, a resident of Kolkata, West Bengal, according his passport.
He arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 5:15 pm via a flight of IndiGo Airlines.
The Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU) of the Forest Department and a team of Customs House at carried out the operation.
WCCU Inspector Ashim Mallick said, “The seized bird claws, weighing a total of four kilograms, were brought into the country illegally, bypassing customs duties.
“This act constitutes a punishable offense under the Special Powers Act 1974 (Sections 25-B(1)(b) and 25-D) and the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act 2012 (Section 34(b)),” he said.
A case was filed against Jakir at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Police Station on Saturday morning.
“During interrogation, Hossain admitted to smuggling the bird claws into Bangladesh which will later be smuggled to China for preparing different types of ornaments”, Ashim said, adding that Bangladesh is being used as a major route to smuggle the seized bird claws.
The seized items have been sent to the forensic lab of the Wildlife Crime Control Unit in Dhaka for species identification. Further investigations are underway to determine the origin and intended purpose of the smuggled items.
Bangladesh now plays the role both as a source of and a transit route for wildlife trafficking.
Bangladesh, a signatory nation of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), has failed to control illegal bird trade and has recently been suspended from the convention.
Data shows that Bangladesh has been importing several species of endangered birds from the international market to sell locally as pets. Of them, the great green macaw (Ara ambiguus), blue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis), hybrid macaws, military macaw (Ara militaris), red-crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae) and golden parakeet (Guarouba guarouba) are some of the more common ones.
CITES is an international agreement among nations to ensure that the international trade of wildlife, both flora and fauna, does not increase to a level that threatens their survival in nature.
