At the end of last week, police from the Boeny district arrested a Tanzanian who was going to Mahajanga with seven suitcases containing 800 radiata turtles. The man was arrested and placed in pre-trial detention. The seized reptiles were entrusted to the Regional Directorate of Environment and Sustainable Development DRDED.
At the end of last week, the gendarmes of the district of Boeny, located west of Antananarivo on the edge of the Mozanbique canal, apprehended a Tanzanian in possession of 800 radiata turtles, we learn from L'Express de Madagascar. The man was supposed to reach Mahajanga to board a flight to Dar es Salaam. Once at their destination, the still living reptiles would have been sold to the highest bidder.
The trafficker was placed in pre-trial detention. He will be judged later.
This new seizure illustrates the extent of the plundering of resources taking place in Madagascar and it is not only the work of foreigners or destitute Malagasy people.
In recent days, the police have unmasked three senior officials involved in the illegal export of gold to Dubai, but also an MP and his four collaborators involved in turtle trafficking. While inspecting the trunk of the elected official's car, the police discovered a suitcase containing 112 radiata turtles.
This proliferation of cases provoked an indignant reaction from civil society associations. In a joint press release, the organizations demand greater firmness to put an end to this trafficking: “We demand the application of an exemplary sanction to all traffickers without exception who unscrupulously plunder our wealth, in accordance with the Law (…) which calls for a prison sentence of 2 to 10 years and/or a fine of 100,000 000 Ar to 200,000,000 Ar”écrit 2424.mg.
