KOTA KINABALU, Feb 16 — Sabah wildlife department public relations officer Siti Nurain Ampuan Acheh today said that authorities had uncovered foreign workers being employed against their will during the seizure of 30 tonnes of pangolin and pangolin products in Sabah last week.
She said the busted syndicate had hired foreign workers as “slaves” who helped to collect and process exotic wildlife meant for trafficking.
“In fact, they were the ones who tipped us off about the operations. They were held against their will and not allowed to leave the factory, so they called us to rescue them,” she said when answering a question regarding the case during a talk here in conjunction with World Pangolin Day.
She declined to reveal further details as the case was still under investigation.
However, Nurain said that the seizure last week which made global news had led to information about another seizure yesterday which saw a 40-year-old Sarawakian being arrested with 23 ‘live’ pangolins in his car
The arrest was made at 11.50am yesterday during a roadblock at Kemabong-Tenom, about five hours’ drive from the state capital, where the suspect was believed to be crossing the state border to bring the pangolins from Lawas, Sarawak to Keningau in Sabah.
“The big seizure last week will lead to more such cases,” she said.
On February 7, authorities raided a factory in Sabah’s Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park, which was used to process pangolins and other wildlife animals’ meat and skins.
Following the raid, they later raided a warehouse in Kampung Bontoi, Jalan Tamparuli, some 15km apart, where a factory manager was detained.
From these two locations, authorities uncovered almost 30 tonnes of pangolins and wildlife worth RM8 million from the syndicate believed to have been operating for about seven years.
The total haul included about 1,800 boxes of frozen pangolins stuffed inside three refrigerated containers, 572 more frozen pangolins in six freezers, 61 ‘live’ pangolins in cages and in a car boot, and 361 kg of pangolin scales.
Two bear paws and the carcasses of four flying fox were also seized.
Alongside the wildlife, enforcers found weighing, sealing and vacuum packing equipment as well as digital scales.
Authorities also found thousands of unused plastic packaging and cardboard cartons which pointed to a well-established pangolin processing venture.
The Sunda pangolin is a Totally Protected Species in Sabah which means it is illegal to be in possession of the endangered animal. Conviction of the crime could result in jail time of between one and five years; and a fine of RM50,000 to RM250,000, or both.
Nurain said that it was difficult to estimate the remaining population of pangolins in Sabah’s wild but acknowledged numbers have dwindled over the years.
