THE STAR (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia) 22 December 10 Reptiles escape the cooking pot (G.C. Tan)
Bukit Kayu Hitam: Over 1,800 endangered reptiles meant for the cooking pot were rescued by the Customs Department here.
Acting on a tip-off, the department personnel seized 475 hill tortoises, 437 freshwater tortoises, 710 monitor lizards and 196 cobras and king cobras from a lorry that was parked near the Malaysia-Thai duty free zone at about 6.40am on Monday.
The reptiles were kept inside blue sacks, plastic bags and plastic baskets and were hidden between heaps of empty fruit baskets and 20 boxes of sawn logs meant for carving.
Reptiles escape the cooking pot