Customs officials at Dhaka Airport last night recovered 53 cartons of rare species of tortoise from a vegetable consignment and arrested one person in this connection.
The consignment of vegetables, meant for Hongkong, was seized at the export village of the airport around 7:25pm. Arrested Faisal Seoul, 25, is the in-charge of Mamun International that exports vegetables to Hongkong.
Reyadul Islam, assistant commissioner of Customs Department at the airport, said they had received tips about the smuggling of tortoises in the consignment.
He said from the four cartons they had recovered some 53 tortoises. Later, the cartons were handed over to the Armed Force Battalion (APBn) in the airport, he added.
Senior ASP of the APBn Alamgir Hossain Shimul said the consignment was being sent by using a fake declaration. “So we detained Faisal.”
The seized cartons may have 500 tortoises worth about Tk1,000,000, he said.
The senior ASP said they had informed the Forest Ministry officials to rescue the other tortoises, if any, from the rest of the cartons.
“As we have very little knowledge about tortoises, we informed the ministry officials; we do not want the animals to die,” he said.
