Malaysia seizes smuggled tortoises

Customs workers at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Airport found 330 tortoises packed into several suitcases.

Five were ploughshares; the other 325 were of the Indian star variety. The ploughshare is native to Madagascar. The Indian star comes from India and Sri Lanka.

The Indian star is listed as endangered. The ploughshare is critically endangered.

The suitcases were packed in boxes and shipped as cargo. Their contents were listed as ”stones” on the manifest.

They came on an Etihad Airlines flight out of Madagascar.

The tortoises are valued at $227,000.

Malaysia is a major distribution center for endangered species being sent to other Asian nations.