Police arrested two men on Friday and seized 130 pangolins which were meant to be smuggled overseas. The two men and the animals were taken to the Gambang police station before police alerted the state Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan).
Perhilitan director Khairiah Mohd Shariff said investigations revealed that the scaly mammals were intended to be taken to Kuala Lumpur to be skinned before being transported to Johor for export. Sources said the suspects, who are in their early 20s, had made the burial ground their meeting point to collect the endangered animals.
Plantation areas used to be popular collection points but after being ambushed on numerous occasions, the smugglers have chosen other remote areas, including cemeteries, the sources said.
Khairiah said the suspects, from Pahang and Kedah, have been released on police bail and will be charged in court.
The pangolins would be released at the National Park forest here.
Pangolins are popular for their meat as well as their scales which are used in traditional medicine.
