REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MAKASSAR -- The South and West Sulawesi Police have uncovered an illegal sea turtle trade syndicate by arresting a suspect and confiscating hundreds of sea turtle scales.

A suspect named Adi was arrested in a house located on Rajawali III Street of Tamalate Sub-district at around 9 a.m. local time, Spokesperson of the South and West Sulawesi Police Office Senior Commissioner Frans Barung Mangera stated here on Thursday.

During the raid, the police managed to confiscate 365 sea turtle scales packaged into 29 sets.

Each set of scales may be valued between Rp750 thousand and Rp eight million.

"We have revealed the ongoing illegal sea turtle trade and have arrested the suspect," Mangera noted, adding that the suspect has been detained and being questioned in the West and South Sulawesi Police Office.

The suspect may face a five-year prison sentence for illegally trading protected animals.

All species of sea turtles are offered protection under Government Regulation No. 7 of 1999 and Law No. 5 of 1990 on Natural Resource and Ecosystem Conservation.

Meanwhile, in other parts of Indonesia such as in Padang, West Sumatra Province, the authority found rampant poaching of sea turtle eggs.

Four suspects were arrested, and 362 sea turtle eggs were confiscated, which were believed to have been poached from green sea and hawksbill sea turtles.

Deputy Director of the Special Crime Investigation Unit (Reskrimsus) of the West Sumatra Police Office Adjunct Senior Commissioner Hengki stated that four regions in West Sumatra have been identified as being prone to the illegal trade of sea turtle eggs such as the Padang municipality and the districts of Pesisir Selatan, Padang Pariaman, and West Pasaman.

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