Philippine authorities have found more than 1 500 live exotic turtles stuffed inside luggage at Manila’s airport.
Customs officials said in a statement Monday that the various types of turtles were found on Sunday inside four pieces of left-behind luggage of a Filipino passenger arriving at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on a Philippine Airlines flight from Hong Kong,.
The 1 529 turtles were turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit.
Convictions for the illegal trading of wildlife are punishable by a prison sentence of up to two years and a fine of up to 200 000 pesos ($3 861).
