Man detained with 45 rare turtles at Faisalabad airport

Customs officials in a joint operation with the Wild Life Department at Faisalabad Airport, arrested a passenger of a Doha bound flight of a private airlines.

The arrested man Iqbal, a resident of Karachi, during initial questioning informed the officials that he wanted to smuggle endangered specie of tortoises to Malaysia via Doha, Qatar. The rare turtles could earn handsome amount in Malaysia, he said.

The customs authorities have earlier also foiled several bids of smuggling of tortoises out of Pakistan, which indicates a growing trend of smuggling of rare species to other countries.