In the news today in Malaysia, a convicted smuggler of wildlife, Anson Wong Keng Liang was set free after serving just 17 months of a 5 years jail term for smuggling Boa constrictor , snakes protected by CITES. While the report did not specifically mentioned whether the specimen smuggled were those in CITES Appendix II (which allows controlled trade with permits of these wildlife but whose habitat are in danger) or Boa constrictor occidentalis which is on CITIES Appendix I (endangered species, threatened with extinction and are not permitted to be traded), the judicial system in Malaysia was already very lenient in the original sentence of 5 years jail and RM190,000 (or just over US$60,000) fine. The convict’s appeal was allowed yesterday in Putrajaya Court of Appeal which saw the convicted smuggler walking out not only as a free man but not having to pay a single ringgit in fine as the RM190,000 fine was set aside by the appeal court.
This latest development sends a very worrying signal to the world…..smuggling of wildlife in Malaysia does not carry serious consequences for the criminals. It will therefore not serve as much of a warning to those still carrying out this trade against endangered fauna and floral of Malaysia.
The author has expressed his views on how biotechnology can be used to thaw the smuggling trade of wildlife in 2007 when he presented a paper entitled, “Orchid smugglers and the use of biotechnology to combat them” in a conference. However, this author is of the opinion that regardless of how well we progress with available technology from identification, detection, tagging by conventional means and identification via biotechnological advances in the same area, unless the judicial system of Malaysia can take the bull by the horn and enact stringent rules and regulations and couple this with strong surveillance, the smuggling will go on and on undeterred or even undetected.
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