Jakarta, April 16 -- Indonesian authorities on April 15 announced they had dismantled a major wildlife trafficking network, arresting six suspects accused of illegally transporting Komodo dragons, the world's largest lizard species currently facing the threat of extinction.
Two suspects were arrested in February in the port city of Surabaya on the east coast of Java Island as they got off a ship with three live Komodo dragons. Further investigation led to four more arrests in the weeks that followed.
Police said the animals had been obtained from "suppliers or hunters" in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province, where they are native to a handful of small islands.
The suspects are accused of buying the dragons for 5.5 million IDR (about ...