Airport staff seized hundreds of critically endangered tortoises worth £200,000 following a tip-off.

Authorities in Malaysia foiled an attempt to smuggle the reptiles into the country from Madagascar.

The 330 ploughshare and radiated tortoises were intercepted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday after officials were alerted by a member of the public.

Found alive in five crates in the airport's cargo warehouse, the rare tortoises are estimated to be worth £214,000.

Image: It is thought the tortoises were to be sold for food or as pets

Both types of tortoise are classed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list.


They have regularly been targeted by smugglers, with the tortoises likely to have been sold as pets or as food items in Malaysia or other countries.

Customs officials said in a statement: "It is a big haul. It could be for the local market or for re-export. We are investigating.

"Based on public tip-off, customs officials raided the cargo area of the airport and found five suspicious crates."

The statement added the crates had arrived on an Etihad Airways flight from Antananarivo airport, Madagascar.

Abdul Wahid Sulong, deputy customs director, said the crates had been labelled as stones for delivery to a false address.

Image: Malaysian officials display some of the hundreds of smuggled reptiles

No arrests have been made but anyone found guilty of importing critically endangered animals can be jailed for up to three years under Malaysian law.

The ploughshare tortoise is one of the rarest land tortoises in the world, while the radiated tortoise, which has been known to live for as long as 188 years, is considered one of the most beautiful species of the reptile.

The confiscation of the tortoises follows the interception of African pangolin scales worth £1.6m a fortnight ago at the same airport.

Last month, rhino horns worth £2.4m were also seized at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.