Mumbai Customs Foil Exotic Wildlife Smuggling

Mumbai Customs made a significant breakthrough at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, seizing two endangered silvery gibbons from a traveler arriving from Bangkok, officials announced on Thursday.

Officials, acting on specific intelligence, intercepted the suspect on Wednesday. Upon examining his baggage, they uncovered two gibbons, aged two and four months, hidden in a basket within a trolley bag. Authorities have detained the individual under the Customs Act and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, emphasizing the rarity of the silvery gibbons, native to Indonesia's Java island. With fewer than 2,500 left in the wild, the species is critically endangered.

The airport operation also highlighted the dangers of trafficking wildlife and drugs. In a separate arrest, Customs officers apprehended another Bangkok passenger carrying 7.970 kg of suspected hydroponic marijuana, valued at Rs 7.97 crore. The substances were similarly concealed inside a trolley bag, demonstrating the ongoing battles against wildlife and drug smuggling.