Russian arrested in Bali after trying to smuggle orangutan back home to keep as a pet Andrei Zhestkov said the ape was gifted to him by a friend, who had bought him for $3,000 in Java

A Russian who tried to smuggle a two-year-old orangutan onto a plane so he could bring him home as a pet has been arrested in Bali.

Andrei Zhestkov, 27, was detained in Denpasar airport after authorities discovered an ape sleeping inside a rattan basket during an X-ray security screening.

Baby formula and blankets

Baby formula and blankets were found packed inside Zhestkov’s belongings and the ape is suspected to have been drugged so that he slept during the journey.

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“We suspect the orangutan was given a drug to make it sleep as long as it was in the suitcase,” I Ketut Catur Marbawa of the Bali Natural Resources Conservation Agency said in a statement.

‘Drugged with allergy pills’

“We believe the orangutan was fed allergy pills which caused him to sleep. We found the pills inside the suitcase.”

Zhestkov said the ape was gifted to him by a friend, who had bought him for $3,000 in Java.

The Russian national also had two live geckos and five lizards in his luggage.

He could face up to five years in jail or a $7,000 fine for smuggling.

‘Like he was transporting a baby’

“He seemed prepared, like he was transporting a baby,” Marbawa said.

Some species of orangutan are endangered and all of the apes are protected. Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, they are often found wild in the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.

The apes are seen as pests by some farmers and villagers in Indonesia, so are vulnerable to attacks. Poachers also catch them to sell them as pets.