KARACHI: A court has released on bail a suspect caught with 200-plus black pond turtles at Karachi airport two days ago, said sources on Monday.

The suspect identified as Sajid Fiaz Cheema was produced before the second civil judge and judicial magistrate of the Malir district court on Monday for remand but the judge released him on bail in the sum of Rs20,000 after hearing arguments of Sindh Wildlife Department officials, said the sources.

Customs clarification The customs officials clarified on Monday the suspect carrying 218 black pond turtles was taken into custody by their department and not by the wildlife department.

`The illegal consignment was noticed dur-ingcheckingofpassengerluggage atthecustoms counter and not on board the flight. The Customs Act 1969 clause pertaining to smuggled goods has no provision for mammals or reptiles. Hence, we can neither prosecute an offender involved in the smuggling of live animals nor keep them,` said Raiz Akbar Shah, superintendent of Preventive Service, DrugEnforcementCell,JinnahInternational Airport.

According to customs of ficials, the suspect was to leave for Bangkok via Doha through a Qatar Airways flight. He was later handed over to the wildlife department along with the confiscated consignment.

It was the second major seizure of black pond turtles (Geoclemys hamiltonii) within two months. Earlier, 200 turtles of the same species were smuggled out of Sindh and were confiscated in China. They were later returned to Pakistani authorities. Two Pakistanis and five Chinese poachers were held.