Indonesia Foils Smuggling of 1,320 Birds, 111 Protected Species

RRI.CO.ID, Bakauheni - The Indonesian Quarantine Agency thru the Lampung Quarantine Center successfully thwarted an attempt to ship 1,320 birds without official documents at Bakauheni Port. This seizure was carried out at the Seaport Intradiction Entrance Gate Dock 2 while officers were conducting routine surveillance on Friday, 27 February 2026.

The case was uncovered when a joint team suspected a box truck that was about to cross to Java Island. After a thorough inspection, officers found dozens of fruit baskets and suspicious cardboard boxes hidden in the truck bed.

As quoted from the Indonesian Quarantine Agency's press release on 2 March 2026, the inspection found 1,320 birds packed in 35 baskets and 25 boxes. Of that number, 111 were protected species, consisting of small leaf warblers, large leaf warblers, blue-winged leaf warblers, Sumatran leaf warblers, singing bush larks, kite larks, and kingfishers.

The Head of Lampung Quarantine, Donni Muksydayan, explained that the truck driver with the initials P was unable to show the required quarantine documents. In addition to the absence of an animal health certificate, the perpetrator also did not have an official permit from the relevant authorities to transport the protected wildlife.

"Every inter-area shipment of wildlife must be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate and quarantine documents. For protected species, it must also be accompanied by a permit from the relevant authorities. In this case, the documents could not be presented," Donni said.

According to the driver's confession, the thousands of birds were transported from the Jambi and Lubuk Seberuk regions at the request of a colleague. The plan is for this illegal commodity to be distributed to several destination cities such as Depok, Serang, and Magelang.

Donni emphasized that every inter-area wildlife shipment must comply with Law Number 21 of 2019 concerning Animal Quarantine. This smuggling act also violates the provisions of natural resource conservation by transporting wild animals without proper permits.