Malaysia arrests six 'Ninja Turtle Gang' members, seizes tortoises

Malaysian authorities have arrested six members of an international crime ring known as the "Ninja Turtle Gang" and seized about 200 smuggled tortoises and turtles, a wildlife official said Tuesday.

Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, director-general of Malaysia's wildlife and national parks department, said four Cambodians and two Malaysians were arrested during a July 2 raid on a house in Kuala Lumpur by police and wildlife officials.

He told AFP some 200 turtles and tortoises worth an estimated 246,394 ringgit ($52,300) were rescued during the raid, the second seizure in Malaysia in less than a week.

Many people across Asia believe that turtles and tortoises bring good luck and prosperity.

Abdul Kadir said the six arrested belong to the Ninja Turtle Gang, an international crime ring involved in smuggling the reptiles.

Police and wildlife officials rescued 400 tortoises during an initial raid on June 29 that were meant for sale in Southeast Asia and were worth $805,084 on the black market.

Animals rescued in the latest raid included the critically endangered Chinese striped-necked turtle, which is also known as the golden thread turtle, Abdul Kadir said.

Other species included the endangered black pond turtle, snapping turtle, sulcata tortoise, leopard tortoise and the red-footed tortoise found throughout South America and the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Barbados.

"Initial investigations revealed that the reptiles were smuggled from abroad to meet the lucrative pet market," Abdul Kadir said.

Also discovered were three snakes, four softshell turtles, a skink and five frogs.

The rescued animals were being kept in a Malaysian wildlife department quarantine centre.

The reptiles are illegally brought into Malaysia by road or in suitcases by smugglers aboard commercial flights, Abdul Kadir said last week.

Traffic, a wildlife NGO, has said that Southeast Asian countries "function as source, consumer and as entrepots for wildlife originating from within the region as well as the rest of the world".