Foreign Passenger Arrested at Mumbai Airport for Smuggling Endangered Silvery Gibbons from Bangkok
Mumbai, October 30: In a major wildlife smuggling bust, officials of the Mumbai Customs at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) detained a foreign national arriving from Bangkok based on specific intelligence inputs.
Upon conducting a detailed examination of the passenger’s checked-in trolley bag, officials made a shocking discovery — two Silvery Gibbons (Hylobates moloch), one alive and the other dead, hidden inside a basket. The Silvery Gibbon, a small ape species known for its distinctive bluish-grey fur, is native to the Indonesian island of Java and is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the passenger had travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before arriving in India. According to Customs sources, the Gibbons were handed over to him in Bangkok by a member of an international smuggling syndicate, which had meticulously arranged his travel itinerary. The passenger’s role was reportedly to deliver the live animals in India as part of the illegal trade network.
Officials have arrested the passenger under relevant sections of the Customs Act, 1962, and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The rescued live Gibbon has been handed over to the Forest Department for care and rehabilitation, while the carcass of the dead one has been sent for post-mortem examination.
Customs officials emphasized that such smuggling attempts pose a grave threat to global biodiversity and are being dealt with utmost seriousness. Further investigations are underway to identify and apprehend other members of the syndicate involved in this illegal wildlife trafficking operation.
