PALMOILMAGAZINE, MEDAN – On Wednesday (10/07), Teluk Nibung Customs in North Sumatera Province successfully intercepted a smuggling attempt involving horseshoe crabs and palm oil sprouts at Teluk Nibung Port.
Head of Teluk Nibung Customs, Nurhasan Ashari, reported that the operation followed intelligence tips. “Our team inspected the temporary storage and discovered one kilogram of 156 horseshoe crabs and two bundles containing 171 palm oil sprouts,” Nurhasan said, as quoted by Palmoilmagazine.com from Antara.
Horseshoe crabs are valuable for consumption, biomedical research, and environmental studies, with their blood plasma extract used in diagnosing diseases such as meningitis and gonorrhea in some countries.
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Horseshoe crabs are classified as a protected species under regulations from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The palm oil sprouts, on the other hand, violated customs regulations due to the absence of proper documentation. The smuggler attempted to pass the sprouts off as fishery products.
Nurhasan continued the smuggling modus was through the ship that contained of export commodities in Teluk Nibung Port. “Every evidence has been secured at the office of Teluk Nibung Customs to get data and would be handed over to the related instances,” he said.
Palm oil sprout would be for Animal, Fishery and Plants Agency, Tanjung Balai, Regency of Asaha, while horseshoe crab would be handed over to Ministry of Environment and Forestry North Sumatera. What the Customs did would be about to conserve the protected animals and prevent the violation in customs. (P2)
