International News

MEDAN, Indonesia, Oct 17, (APP/AFP): Three Indonesian men have been arrested for allegedly trading in protected species, with police seizing animal parts including a tiger skin, deer genitalia and pangolin scales, an official said Monday. The suspects were caught over the weekend after an undercover police operation at a hotel in the city of Medan on Sumatra island, which is close to national parks that are home to a panoply of exotic animals. Police posing as buyers met one of the men, who agreed to sell a tiger skin for 70 million rupiah ($5,350) before he was arrested. Authorities later found three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of scales from critically endangered pangolins in his car, which he said he planned to sell for 36 million rupiah to two friends.