6 members of the “Ninja Turtle Gang” arrested, 200 smuggled reptiles seized in Malaysia

Malaysian authorities have arrested six members of an international crime ring known as the Ninja Turtle Gang and seized about 200 smuggled turtles. Turtlessaid a conservation ministry official on Tuesday.

Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, director general of the Malaysian Wildlife and National Parks Authority, said four Cambodians and two Malaysians were arrested in a raid on a house in Kuala Lumpur by police and wildlife officials on July 2.

He told AFP that around 200 turtles worth an estimated $52,300 were rescued during the raid, the second seizure in Malaysia in less than a week.

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

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

In an initial raid on June 29, police and wildlife conservationists rescued 400 turtles destined for sale in Southeast Asia, valued at $805,084 on the black market.

Among the animals rescued in the recent raid, Abdul Kadir said, was the critically endangered Chinese striped-necked turtle, also known as the golden-threaded turtle. The Chinese striped-necked turtle is native to China, Taiwan, Laos and Vietnam, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“This species is popular in the pet trade both inside and outside its natural range and has a long history of use as a food source and in traditional medicine,” the agency said in a statement.

Other species included the endangered Black Painted Turtle, Snapping turtleAfrican spurred tortoise, leopard tortoise and red-backed tortoise, which are found throughout South America and on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Barbados.

Leopard tortoises are native to the dry savannas of Central and South Africa, according to the Maryland Zoo, where they live.

“Historically, they have also been heavily exploited for the pet trade,” the zoo says. “They are hunted and consumed locally as food.”

In addition, three snakes, four soft-shell turtles, skinks, a species of lizard and five frogs were discovered.

“Initial investigations revealed that the reptiles were smuggled from abroad to serve the lucrative pet market,” said Abdul Kadir.

The rescued animals were kept in a quarantine center run by the Malaysian Wildlife Authority.

The reptiles are being brought into Malaysia illegally by smugglers overland or in suitcases on board commercial flights, Abdul Kadir said last week.

According to Traffic, a conservation NGO, the countries of Southeast Asia “act as a source, consumer and transit point for wildlife from the region and the rest of the world.”

Between June 2017 and December 2018, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey found that more than 1,500 native turtles—including wood turtles, spotted turtles, and Carolina box turtles—entered Asia from the United States.

At the beginning of the year, the US Department of Justice a man accused for allegedly smuggling turtles from California to his home in Hong Kong.