Russian arrested smuggling drugged orangutan in Indonesia

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Russian arrested smuggling drugged orangutan in Indonesia

Associated Press | Sunday, March 24, 2019 3:17 a.m.

BKSDA Bali via AP

In this Saturday, March 23, 2019, photo released by Natural Resources Conservation Agency of Bali (BKSDA Bali), a sedated 2-year-old orangutan rests inside rattan basket following the arrest of a Russian national Andrei Zhestkov who allegedly tried to smuggle the ape out of the resort island at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, Indonesia. Authorities say the 27-year-old Russian tourist was captured late Friday at the airport after an X-ray found the 2-year-old male orangutan in a rattan basket inside his luggage.

DENPASAR, Indonesia — Authorities say they have arrested a Russian tourist who was attempting to smuggle a drugged orangutan out of Indonesia’s resort island of Bali.

Andrei Zhestkov, 27, was captured late Friday at the airport after an X-ray found the 2-year-old male orangutan in a rattan basket inside his luggage, said Ketut Catur Marbawa from Bali province’s conservation agency.

Customs officers also found allergy pills, two geckos and five lizards in the man’s suitcase, Marbawa said Sunday. All animals were alive.

Zhestkok told authorities he deliberately fed the orangutan allergy pills mixed with milk, causing the animal to lose consciousness for up to three hours, Marbawa said. He told them he planned to redose the animal during a transit in Seoul.

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