KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian authorities announced Wednesday having seized 6.16 tons of pangolin scales worth an estimated 78 million ringgit (17.9 million U.S dollars) in its largest seizure so far this year.
The scales had been hidden in a container declared as cashew nuts at Malaysia's largest transport hub Port Klang and had been discovered on Tuesday, the Customs Department said in a statement.
"A check on the import manifesto found the container had been declared as containing cashews nuts. The modus operandi of the syndicate is to hide the pangolin scales behind sacks containing cashew nuts to escape detection by Customs officers," it said.
The department added that the importer and customs agent involved in the attempt to smuggle pangolin scales were being investigated under laws criminalizing the import or export of prohibited goods.
Being poached for their meat and scales is among the major threats of pangolins, one of the most trafficked mammals in the world.
They are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits international trade of any of the eight pangolin species.
