Nearly a year after being busted, two men in Malaysia have been convicted of illegally possessing pangolins and it seems having an ‘elderly mother’ to take care of may have won them both a more lenient sentencing.
A Filipino man identified as Aivon Vencer has been sentenced to three years in prison for attempting to smuggle 1,068 frozen pangolins, weighing 4,988 kilograms.
Updated with new information on 6 August, 2012.
The year 2011 saw a minimum of 58 pangolin seizures reported by media and wildlife trade-monitoring networks, TRAFFIC and Southeast Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN).
The incidents spanned across more than fourteen different countries in East and Southeast Asia, France, and numerous African nations.
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most important voices for pangolins. Based in Kuala Lumpur, this regional office of TRAFFIC monitors wildlife trade in Cambodia, Brunei, Timor Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Malaysia’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks — more commonly known as Perhilitan — has reportedly arrested two men after they were found with a dozen defenseless pangolins in the rear of their vehicle.