Sri Lanka Customs Biodiversity Protection Unit at Bandaranaike International Airport on Saturday night arrested an exporter in Ja-Ela who attempted to send 206 star tortoises from Sri Lanka to Malaysia illegally using forged documents stating that they were “dried seafood” through export cargo terminal.
Customs Deputy Director Sudaththa Silva said these star tortoises are also known as “Mewara” tortoises by the people of the dry regions of Sri Lanka. These tortoises are kept as pets in Malaysia and Taiwan
Customs Superintendent and Technical and Training Advisor on International Wildlife Trade of the World Customs Organization Hasantha Guruge said these star tortoises also live in India and Pakistan.
He said tortoises living in Sri Lanka have a unique colour pattern and there is a special demand for them internationally.
Guruge further said that a small sized tortoise is sold for US$ 200 in those countries and a large sized tortoise is sold for US$ 3,000.
It has been revealed during the investigation that these star tortoises were collected from the Wilpattu and Kalpitiya areas and they were packed in six Rigiform boxes and brought to Katunayake Airport.
This stock of living tortoises was brought to the Katunayake airport export air cargo terminal to be loaded into an AirAsia flight leaving for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Saturday night
A 55-year-old man from Ja-Ela area, who brought this stock of tortoises to the Katunayake airport for export, has been arrested by the Customs officials.