KUALA LUMPUR // Malaysia has seized more than US$2 million (Dh7.3m) worth of scales from pangolins, the world’s most poached animal, at Kuala Lumpur airport in the largest haul seen in the country, officials said on Monday.
Customs officials acting on a tip-off discovered 712 kilograms of scales at the airport’s cargo warehouse, where they had been shipped in 18 sacks using false documents, customs department assistant director-general Paddy Abdul Halim said.
The wildlife and national parks department’s deputy director of enforcement, Rozidan Md Yasin, said an estimated 1,400 pangolins had been killed to produce the amount of scales seized.
Malaysia has previously been singled out by wildlife conservationists as a transit point for the illegal trafficking of endangered species to other Asian countries.
Shy and nearsighted, pangolins only venture out from the safety of their burrows or treetop homes at night to scour for insects. When startled, they curl up into a ball – a technique that is futile against the cable snares set by hunters.
All eight of the world’s species of pangolin, which range from 30 to 100 centimetres length, are threatened with extinction.
The scales were shipped from Africa in two separate shipments, Mr Paddy said. The first shipment from the Ghanaian capital of Accra had been sent to Malaysia via Dubai on an Emirates flight.
The second was sent on a Kenya Airways flight from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Nairobi, where it was then transferred to an Emirates flight and shipped to Malaysia via Dubai.
“We are still investigating whether the two shipments are linked,” Mr Paddy said.
No suspects had been detained and it was still unclear whether Malaysia was the final destination for the scales as no recipients could be traced.
Pangolin scales shipped to Malaysia were usually sent on to Vietnam and China, Mr Rozidan said.
The value of pangolin scales vary according to region but can fetch up to 1,500 ringgit (Dh1,270) a kilogram on the Malaysian black market, he added.
Global trade in pangolin scales is banned under a United Nations convention, but they are prized in some Asian countries for use in traditional medicines.
Last month, Thai authorities seized nearly three tonnes of pangolin scales from Africa at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
* Reuters
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
SQUAD
Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammed Barghash, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Hassan Al Mahrami, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Yousef Jaber, Saeed Ahmed, Majed Sorour, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Khalil Al Hammadi, Fabio De Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Caio Canedo, Muhammed Jumah, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
The specs: 2018 Audi Q5/SQ5
Price, base: Dh183,900 / Dh249,000
Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder / 3.0L, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic / Eight-speed automatic
Power: 252hp @ 5,000rpm / 354hp @ 5,400rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,600rpm / 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy: combined 7.2L / 100km / 8.3L / 100km
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
England-South Africa Test series
1st Test England win by 211 runs at Lord's, London
2nd Test South Africa win by 340 runs at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
3rd Test July 27-31 at The Oval, London
4th Test August 4-8 at Old Trafford, Manchester
