The wildlife officials with the assistance of police conducted a raid at a house in Karachi’s posh Defence area on Friday evening . Inspector Azeem Kachelo, informed the media that the raid was carried out on a secret tip.
The wildlife department officials stated that more than 600 tortoises were recovered in the raid having a minimum cost of Rs. 50 million in the international market.
Officials stated that the arrested Chinese nationals have refused to give any statement over the matter.
According to the officials six arrested Pakistani nationals were residents of Faisalabad. They were living at the first floor of the house whereas the detained three Chinese nationals having accommodation at the ground floor.
It should be noted that the captured tortoises have been among the list of endangered species and their trade is prohibited under the international conventions.
The authorities had earlier also reported smuggling bids of turtles and tortoises from Sindh and Punjab, which were destined to smuggle to Malaysia and other far east countries.
