Chennai, Apr 17 (PTI) Over 400 units of turtles and 9 African tortoises were seized at the international airport here and two persons, including a Tamil Nadu police personnel, were arrested in this connection, Chennai Customs said on Wednesday.

According to a top Customs official, one of the arrested persons is a member of the Tamil Nadu Special Police and has been a "habitual offender".

Also Read | Snake on a Train! Serpent on Japan Bullet Train From Nagoya to Tokyo Causes 17-Minute Delay.

Acting on specific inputs, sleuths of the Customs department intercepted a passenger on arrival from Bangkok and recovered 484 units of Red Eared Slider Turtles (Trachemys scripta) and nine African Spurred Tortoises (Centrochely sulcata) from him, an official release from the Principal Commissioner of Customs R Srinivasa Naik said.

The receiver who was supposed to collect the cargo was identified as a Havaldar in Tamil Nadu Special Police VI, Battalion, Madurai, who was termed as a "habitual offender" by Customs.

Also Read | Karnataka: DK Shivakumar 'Kidnapped' Nine-Year-Old Girl for Property, Claims Former PM HD Deve Gowda.

He was arrested in a similar case in February 2022 by the Andhra Police Special Enforcement Bureau, Customs said.

The animals were imported in contravention of the Customs Act and the Wildlife Protection Act.

The passenger and the receiver were arrested and remanded to judicial custody, the release said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)