JOHOR BAHRU: The restaurant looks ordinary from the outside but inside diners are served exotic meat like wild boar and the Malayan water monitor, both protected species.
At 1pm yesterday, 18 Seri Alam district police headquarters (IPD) personnel and General Operations Force (PGA) 3rd Battalion members, as well as seven Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) Johor officers busted the restaurant at Jalan Tanjung Masai.
Perhilitan Johor director, Salman Saaban, said seven plastic (packets) of suspected water monitor meat and two plastic containers of suspected wild boar meat were found in a freezer.
“The meat is sold to people who come to the restaurant for the exotic meat. A detailed investigation is being done to know when the restaurant started serving the exotic menu and supply source,” he said in a statement today.
He said the 57-year-old premises owner didn’t have the documentation or Perhilitan license to possess wild meat. One of his workers from India, too, had invalid travel documents.
He said the suspects are under police custody at the Seri Alam IPD and that the case is being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716) for not being able to provide documents required for possession of wildlife. -Bernama
