Gaharu seized, three from China arrested
Published on: Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: A surprise early morning raid on a hotel in Keningau Tuesday led to the arrest of three Chinese nationals in possession of 13 plastic bags of gaharu, a whooping stash of cash totalling RM75,704.70 and 3720 yuan, in addition to fangs of unknown wildlife species, said Sabah Forestry Department Director Datuk Sam Mannan. The 12.30am raid was led by Chief Enforcement Officer of the Keningau Forestry Region, Senior Forestry Officer Ramli Majid, and his team, assisted by the Keningau police, after a tip-off from both the police and the public. Also seized was a Proton Saga vehicle suspected to be used for transportation by the arrested suspects together with a paraphernalia of tools believed used for extracting gaharu, a CITES controlled forest produce and a prohibited species in Sabah.
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In addition, three Peoples Republic of China passports and six mobile phones were also confiscated, while the unknown fangs will be sent to the relevant authorities for analysis and identification, said Mannan."The large amount of cash found implies that there is a buying spree for protected plants and wildlife, obtained by poachers who are either locals or foreigners, particularly in the interior," he pointed out."The seized gaharu and fangs are suspected to have been bought in the interior from poachers, ready to be exported by the suspects," he said."What this incident clearly shows is that the lure of ready cash, guaranteed by a captive foreign market or markets, will put more pressure on Sabah's protected wildlife," Mannan warned.
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"The huge stash of cash seized proves wildlife poaching is highly lucrative these days, especially when buyers can come and go at leisure, undetected and demonstrate that an active international poaching network is well entrenched in Sabah, especially for gaharu," he said."In fact, there may be more foreign buyers loitering around than what we have caught so far," Mannan warned.
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"It is our opinion that poaching is now a far more serious menace in Sabah than illegal felling in the past," he reckoned,"It is therefore more important that the capacity to enforce and apprehend by special training (Protect Team) be accelerated."SFD and WWF are in the final stages of drawing up a programme and the signing of a MoU to bring in to Sabah International Trainers to enlarge the Forestry Department's and other organisations' special forces," Mannan said.The MoU is expected to be signed at the Heart of Borneo Conference in November this year, he said.More specialised training, bigger budgets, more and sharper intelligence, more manpower and more dogs are variables to step up Sabah's means of combat, according to him. The suspects have since been taken to the Keningau police station, to be detained and are on remand. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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