Smuggler hiding 24 birds under trousers gets caught

A Malaysian odd-job worker attempted to smuggle 24 birds in a pouch hanging from his waist in an attempt to smuggle the birds into Singapore, local media reported on Friday.

The smuggler, 55-year-old Lim Chia Ming, was jailed for two weeks on Thursday for bringing in the birds without a license from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore, the Straits Times said.

Seven of the birds were found dead when he was pulled up for a check upon arrival in Singapore. He was fined 4,000 Singapore dollars (3,200 U.S. dollars) for causing unnecessary suffering to the hatchlings by confining them in spaces too small and restrictive inside the pouch.

Lim pleaded guilty to both charges.

A district court heard that Lim had left Singapore for Batam, an Indonesian island near Singapore, last Friday to visit his girlfriend. There he got the birds from a bird shop. The birds were placed in 24 small boxes that had previously contained bottles of massage oil for babies.

The birds were then placed in a cloth pouch Lim wore under his trousers.

Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority currently does not allow the import of birds from avian influenza-affected countries such as Indonesia.

The oriental white-eye is a popular songbird in Singapore and a hatchling can fetch 25 Singapore dollars (20 U.S. dollars).

He could have been fined up to 10,000 Singapore dollars (8,000 U.S. dollars) and jailed for up to a year on each of the charges.