An airline passenger tried to smuggle an orangutan out of Indonesia in a suitcase, but was caught and arrested as he tried to board his flight.
Indonesian authorities said that they had stopped Russian Andrei Zhestkov, 27, as tried to get through security with a 2-year-old orangutan drugged on allergy tablets.
Zhestkov said that the orangutan had been bought in a street market in Java for $3,000, according to a statement by Bali conservation officials.
He had wanted to take it back as a pet.
The 2-year-old male sleeping orangutan was revealed at a pre-screening security X-Ray at Ngurah Rai Airport’s international departure terminal on the evening of March 22, according to officials.
Andrei Zhestkov sits with customs officials in Indonesia with the rattan box used to transport the orangutan on March 23. Karantina Denpasar
“At first, we thought it was a monkey,” Dewa Delanata, head of the airport’s quarantine office told the Jakarta Post. “ The officers were afraid to open the basket, as they thought the monkey would be aggressive and run loose in the departure area.”
An orangutan found in a suitcase at Ngurah Rai Airport on March 22. BKSDA
“When it was taken to the examination room and we opened it, we were shocked to find an orangutan,” he said.
The drowsy ape was inside a rattan case inside the suitcase.
