Four men were fined RM1,000 each today by the Magistrates Court here after pleading guilty to transporting 13 chickens into Johor from Kelantan without permission. — AFP pic

JOHOR BARU, May 8 — Four men were fined RM1,000 each today by the Magistrates Court here after pleading guilty to transporting 13 chickens into Johor from Kelantan without permission in April last year.

The Johor government is regulating the import of fowls in a bid to curb the spread of bird flu, and those seeking to bring in chicken, whether dead or alive, must first get written permission from the Johor Veterinary Services Department director.

Fauzi Yazid, 47, Nik Nurilham Muhamad @ Afandi, 41, Mohd Zulhilmi Amzar Zuhaimi, 27, and Raja Alfaisal Raja Azlan, 27 were accused of violating Paragraph (a) of the Johor Avian Influenza Control Area Order 2005, which provides for a fine of up to RM15,000, upon conviction.

According to the charge sheet, the owner of the chickens Nik Nurilham was charged with transferring seven live chickens, while Mohd Zulhilmi was charged with carrying four dead chickens and Raja Alfaisal and Fauzi a live chicken each using an express bus from Kelantan to arrive at Platform B of the Larkin Sentral Terminal here at 11.20am on April 7, 2018.

Magistrate Nurasidah A. Rahman also ordered Nik Nurilham, Raja Alfaisal and Fauzi to pay the cost of care and treatment to the Johor Veterinary Services Department.

Nik Nurilham was ordered to pay RM706.04 while Raja Alfaisal and Fauzi were ordered to pay RM109.51 respectively.

The magistrate said the four will have to spend three weeks in jail if they fail to pay the fine.

The chickens will be handed over to the Johor Veterinary Services Department for disposal.