KARACHI: Customs officials recently seized seven falcons of an endangered species that were to be smuggled to Bahrain through Karachi airport, a customs official said yesterday.
Responding to the queries, assistant collector of customs Rana Aftab posted at the airport said the smugglers were trying to use a re-export permit issued by the foreign ministry to a Bahrain dignitary but customs staff caught the culprits and seized the falcons.
Conservationists have been clamouring that re-export permits were widely misused and now this incident had proved that at least some of the permits were certainly misused and further checks were needed to counter the smuggling out of the precious birds by royal dignitaries.
The customs official said the seven falcons were being flown to Bahrain by Yousuf Ahmed Hujair, traveling to the Gulf state on a Bahraini passport (No 1678897) on Thursday.
He said the same number of falcons had been brought into the country from Bahrain on Wednesday by the passenger and he was taking them back the very next day, which raised suspicions. Close checks of the bids revealed that the falcons had been changed - they were not the birds brought into the country just a day earlier.
The widespread poaching of falcons and hunting of houbara bustards was affecting the population of both these migratory bird species. Internews
