Indian officials rescue tiny Indonesian ape found stuffed inside checked bag
A passenger arriving from Malaysia was arrested in Mumbai after customs found two gibbons concealed in a trolley bag. Only one survived
Indian customs officers have arrested a plane passenger after discovering two endangered gibbons stuffed inside a checked bag, the latest animals seized from smugglers at Mumbai’s airport.
Officers acting on “specific intelligence” arrested the passenger in Mumbai on Thursday.
“A subsequent search of their checked baggage, a trolley bag, led to the discovery and seizure of two silvery gibbons (Hylobates moloch), one live and one found dead, which were concealed in a basket,” the customs department said.
Wildlife trade monitor Traffic, which battles the smuggling of wild animals and plants, warned in June of a “very troubling” trend in trafficking driven by the exotic pet trade.