A group of smugglers trafficking hundreds of protected reptiles were caught in Indonesia on March 30th at an airport.

The Indonesian police caught the protected wildlife at Dominic Eduard Osok Airport, Sorong City, West Papua.

The wild animals that were arrested included 29 blue-tailed monitor lizards, five cape flower monitor lizards, 21 blue spotted tree monitor lizards, 37 green monitor lizards and four Maluku lizards.

Also included were one Papuan lizard, 17 green pythons, one ground boa, one irian python, 30 baby D'Albertis snakes and 11 tree boas.

The reptiles were inspected by officials with the Conservation and Natural Resources Authority to check their health and categorise them for future legal proceedings.

The Natural Resources Conservation Authority of Papua Province and the Indonesian Police managed to thwart the smuggling of hundreds of protected wildlife at an airport in Indonesia, at Dominic Eduard Osok Airport, Sorong City, West Papua, Wednesday (30/3/2022).

The wild animals that were arrested were reptiles with 29 blue-tailed monitor lizards, five cape flower monitor lizards, 21 blue spotted tree monitor lizards, 37 green monitor lizards and four Maluku lizards.

Then, one Papuan lizard, 17 green pythons, one ground boa, one irian python, 30 baby albertisi snakes and 11 tree boas.

Hundreds of these wild animals were smuggled through the airport cargo room, allegedly by one of the airport cargo officers, Dominic Eduard Osok, Sorong City.

The evidence of hundreds of reptiles was immediately secured by officers from the Center for Conservation and Natural Resources, West Papua Province for data collection and health checks before being handed over to the police for further legal proceedings.

Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, Sorong City Police, Inspector One Police, Achmad Elsyarif Martadinata said that his party together with the Center for Conservation and Natural Resources, West Papua Province succeeded in thwarting the attempt to smuggle dozens of wild animals out of West Papua Province through Domine Eduard Osok Airport in the city. push.

He explained that the evidence of dozens of reptiles is currently with the Conservation and Natural Resources Authority, West Papua, in order to collect data on which reptiles are protected and which are not protected for further legal proceedings.

According to him, legal proceedings will be carried out against the perpetrators, both those who sent the reptiles and those who ordered them to make the deliveries.

The police are also still investigating the involvement of people in airport officials in this smuggling effort.