KUCHING: The 11th Battalion General Operations Force (GOF) thwarted an attempt to smuggle 1,060 birds into Indonesia via hidden paths or “jalan tikus” in Tebedu yesterday.
GOF 11th Battalion commanding officer Superintendent Rosdi Inai said following a tip-off, a team comprising 11 GOF personnel, four Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) and four Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) personnel conducted an operation under “Op Bersepadu Khazanah”.
“The team went to the location about 1pm and discovered the birds, consisting of white-rumped shamas (Murai Batu) and oriental magpie-robins (Murai Kampung).
The birds were estimated to be worth RM855,000.
"They were kept in plastic basket trays and covered with cardboard, which we believe were ready to be transported to the neighbouring country,” he told the reporters at the GOF headquarters here today.
“A 39-year-old Indonesian woman was nabbed as she claimed to be the owner of the birds while another local man, 30, was arrested for trying to bribe the enforcement team.
“The suspect tried to offer RM7,000 to the personnel for not taking action against the woman.”
Rosdi said it was believed that there was a high demand for the birds in Indonesiand fetched “lucrative prices”.
The case has been handed over to the SFC and MACC, and would be investigated under Section 29 of the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998 and section 17(b) MACC Act 2009.