Smuggling bid foiled: Customs seize 36 falcons from Jiwani coast

KARACHI:

The customs intelligence seized 36 falcons of rare specie which were being smuggled from Jiwani coast. During the press briefing at the Karachi Press Club on Sunday, the Director Customs Intelligence Balochistan Iqbal Bhawana said that the raid was conducted last Saturday night.  He said that smugglers managed to escape through speedboat when the team reached there.

Customs recovered two passports and three cages of falcons from the site.

Customs officials claimed that it was the fist time that falcons of this rare specie were seized in such large number.

Each falcon was worth millions of rupees, they said.

Bhawana informed that all birds would be handed over to wildlife department and would be released in the presence of custom officials.

Falcons are usually smuggled to Middle East where these exotic birds are used for hunting

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2012.