AIU officials recovers over 700 red-eared slider turtles at Kolkata Airport

The officials of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Indian Customs Department, on Wednesday night, recovered over 700 red-eared slider turtles. 

The category of turtles classified as one of the world’s 100 worst invasive species, was recovered from the luggage of a passenger coming from Bangkok at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on Wednesday night.

It is learnt that a flight from



Bangkok landed at the Kolkata Airport on Wednesday night and while a passenger from that flight was crossing the Green Channel, the AIU officials could feel the movements of some objects within his luggage.

The AIU officials immediately detained that passenger and started searching his luggage. The search led to a total of 707 turtles being recovered from one of his bags. Later it was confirmed that these turtles belonged to the “red-eared slider” species.