KUALA LUMPUR: Four Malaysians and three foreigners were arrested during "Operasi Bersepadu Khazanah" or OBK carried out by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) recently.
The weeklong 11th OBK operation held in various locations from July 7-13 saw the arrest of the suspects for possession of wildlife animal carcasses, wildlife body parts and hunting tools.
Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said among those arrested was a "wanted" individual who has been involved in such crime.
"On July 7, we arrested a Malaysian in Kluang, Johor. From the arrest, we seized 7.5kg of soft shell turtles and four of the species' shells alongside 4.4kg of wild boar meat.
"On July 10, three more Malaysians were arrested in Jerantut, Pahang, where we retrieved a box filled with wildlife carcasses, two shotguns, four nooses and other hunting equipment.
"One of the three suspects has been on our wanted list for a long time, as he is known to be very active in hunting elephant, tigers and other species of wildlife.
"The arrest enabled the department to solve several cases involving elephant hunters in the past three years," Kadir said in a statement today.
He said the remaining arrests involved two Cambodians and a Vietnamese.
"The biggest arrest during this operation was in Gua Musang, Kelantan, where we detained two Cambodian individuals last Saturday.
"From the arrests, we seized 15 bear claws, three tigers' fangs and one tiger carcass. A container was seized and it contained three units of wildlife bile as well as wildlife meat and bones.
"We also seized a sun bear's paw, 13 units of wild birds feathers, five parts of pangolin scales, two units of wire snares and one package of agarwood and tools to search for the wood."
Kadir said the Vietnamese was nabbed in Seberang Jaya, Pulau Pinang, where five burnt Asian palm civet carcasses were retrieved.
"On Monday, we seized another seven units of sun bear claws, 97 wild boar fangs and 69 units of monitor lizard bile."
Kadir said the 11 series of "Operasi Bersepadu Khazanah" has led to 38 arrest raids, which led to 50 Malaysians and 22 foreigners comprising six Indonesians, seven Cambodians, five Vietnamese and four Sudanese being detained.
He said for the offence of keeping any fully protected wildlife and owning any tools to trap these animals, it will be investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716).
The cases involving encroachment into forest reserves will be investigated under the National Forestry Act 1984 (Act 313), while the firearms possessions will be investigated under the Firearms Act 1960."
Operasi Bersepadu Khazanah (OBK) is an operation under the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry which began in Sept 3, 2019.
"For the eleventh operation, we worked together with the General Operation Force (PGA) Batalion 3 from Bidor and Batalion 18 from Pengkalan Hulu, Human Resource Development Department (JPSM), Johor National Parks and non-govenmental organisations, including the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MyCAT), Pertubuhan Pelindung Alam Malaysia (PPAM) and RIMBA.
"I would like to warn any individual who wishes to conduct illegal wildlife hunting and encroachment activities in forest reserves to stop such activities, or face stern legal action," he said.