Exotic birds seized in Kochi airport flown back to Thailand

Kochi: The 14 exotic birds seized from two passengers at the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) here on Monday have been sent back to Thailand, while the mother-son duo arrested for smuggling the avians have been produced before the court.

The Customs seized the birds from Thiruvananthapuram natives Bindumol and her son Sarath as they landed in Kochi airport from Thailand on a Thai Airways flight on Monday. The officials then handed over the passengers to the Forest Department, and the Kalady forest range registered a case under the Wildlife Protection Act against the two.

The birds belonging to three species have a market value ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2 lakh. The birds were quarantined at the airport and sent back to their mother country by midnight after obtaining a court order. The birds will be handed over to the Thailand forest department from Bangkok airport, a forest official in Kochi told Onmanorama.

The decision to fly back the birds immediately was taken considering veterinarians' warning of potential health risks. It was feared that the birds could be carrying some viruses.

The accused had told Customs that they brought the birds after they were paid Rs 75,000. It is suspected that they brought the birds for a Kozhikode native named Kannan. The forest department is yet to confirm this. Bindu and Sarath told the investigation officials that it was their first trip to Thailand. They run a sound system business in Thailand. They have reportedly told the Customs that a friend of Kannan arranged for a trip there. They were handed over two bags by the friend. He told them that there was a bird in one of the bags and chocolates in the other. The bags were supposed to be collected by a person at the Kochi airport. However, the Customs sleuths seized the bags after they became suspicious of the passengers' behaviour.

"Profit must be the motive behind those who smuggled the birds. We are investigating if there are more people involved in it. We will decide the course of investigation based on the court order," the forest official said. The charges, if proven, could attract imprisonment of up to three years.

The birds seized are two magnificent bird-of-paradise, eight maleos, two king bird of paradise, and two visayan hornbills. The birds are covered in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora, a multinational treaty regulating the international trade of animals and plants to prevent their over-exploitation.