Police said the vehicles were stolen from impound yards and were worth nearly RM1 million while at least two Birds of Paradise found in the warehouse in Taman Wahyu were said to be worth RM1 million each on the black market.
“The police should start looking at wildlife trafficking as a serious crime,” TRAFFIC Southeast Asia spokesman Elizabeth John told The Malaysian Insider today.
“There is a clear link between wildlife trafficking and organised crime,” she added.
Other animals found in the raid included protected species such as albino pygmy monkeys, snakes, leopard cats and thousands of birds.
Two men believed to be workers were arrested but according to local dailies, the police are looking for Terry Tong, 40 and Kelvin Lim, 50 to assist them in the investigation.
Elizabeth said enforcement agencies would usually leave the wildlife departments to handle wildlife crimes. But in light of yesterday’s raid, which proved the link between organised crimes and wildlife trafficking, “other agencies like the police should support”.
“We need more support from other agencies,” she added.
She said TRAFFIC applauded the police on the seizure and urged them and other agencies investigating organized crime to start communicating and working more closely with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan).
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia was set up in 1991 and is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur.
