JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities have arrested a Japanese man who conservationists say is a major player in the illegal wildlife trade for allegedly attempting to smuggle more than 250 reptiles out of the country.
The head of law enforcement at Jakarta’s international airport, Ridwan Alaydrus, said Thursday that Katsuhide Naito was arrested after customs officers found 181 lizards, 65 snakes and seven turtles in his luggage.
He said the wildlife seized Tuesday included 12 different species, three of which are endangered.
Naito allegedly bought the haul from poachers in northern Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo, Alaydrus said. It included green tree snakes, Borneo lizards and pig-nosed turtles, which are protected under Indonesian law.
Naito was arrested before boarding a flight to Japan. His travel documents indicated he is a frequent visitor to Indonesia, holding Platinum Elite Plus status with the country’s national airline, Garuda.
Alaydrus said the man could be charged under Indonesia’s animal quarantine law, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine.
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Indonesia program said it hopes Naito will also be charged under conservation laws with a maximum prison term of five years.
The group’s crimes unit manager, Dwi Adhiasto, said Naito was a “big player” in the wildlife trade and was previously arrested in Australia in 2005 for smuggling 39 exotic reptiles from Southeast Asia.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 13,000 islands, is home to numerous reptile species, some of which are on the brink of extinction because of deforestation and poaching.
Indonesia arrests Japanese man in reptile smuggling
Indonesia arrests Japanese man in reptile smuggling
Brazil’s Lula urges Trump to treat all countries equally
NEW DELHI: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged Donald Trump on Sunday to treat all countries equally after the US leader imposed a 15 percent tariff on imports following an adverse Supreme Court ruling.
“I want to tell the US President Donald Trump that we don’t want a new Cold War. We don’t want interference in any other country, we want all countries to be treated equally,” Lula told reporters in New Delhi.
The conservative-majority Supreme Court ruled six to three on Friday that a 1977 law Trump has relied on to slap sudden levies on individual countries, upending global trade, “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”
Lula said he would not like to react to the Supreme Court decisions of another country, but hoped that Brazil’s relations with the United States “will go back to normalcy” soon.
The veteran leftist leader is expected to travel to Washington next month for a meeting with Trump.
“I am convinced that Brazil-US relation will go back to normalcy after our conversation,” Lula, 80, said, adding that Brazil only wanted to “live in peace, generate jobs, and improve the lives of our people.”
Lula and Trump, 79, stand on polar opposite sides when it comes to issues such as multilateralism, international trade and the fight against climate change.
However, ties between Brazil and the United States appear to be on the mend after months of animosity between Washington and Brasilia.
As a result, Trump’s administration has exempted key Brazilian exports from 40 percent tariffs that had been imposed on the South American country last year.
‘Affinity’
“The world doesn’t need more turbulence, it needs peace,” said Lula, who arrived in India on Wednesday for a summit on artificial intelligence and a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ties between Washington and Brasilia soured in recent months, with Trump angered over the trial and conviction of his ally, the far-right former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump imposed sanctions against several top officials, including a Supreme Court judge, to punish Brazil for what he termed a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to Lula.
Lula said that, as the two largest democracies in the Americas, he looked forward to a positive relationship with the United States.
“We are two men of 80 years of age, so we cannot play around with democracy,” he said.
“We have to take this very seriously. We have to shake hands eye-to-eye, person-to-person, and to discuss what is best for the US and Brazil.”
Lula also praised Modi after India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths and signed a raft of other deals on Saturday.
“I have a lot of affinity with Prime Minister Modi,” he said.
Lula will travel to South Korea later on Sunday for meetings with President Lee Jae Myung and to attend a business forum.
