Following complaints from the public who sighted the man’s activities on the Internet, the Wildlife Department tracked down the suspect outside a hypermarket in Putatan near here this morning.

The department said the 21-year-old Malaysian was sitting in his car when wildlife officers detained him under the operation codenamed “Ops Tapau”.

“The officers seized 20 turtle eggs which were found in two plastic containers.

“The man is wanted by the department for actively marketing the eggs on his Facebook page,” Sabah wildlife director Augustine Tuuga said in a statement.

Tuuga reminded the people that all turtle species were protected animals under the state’s Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.

“This includes all animal products, particularly the eggs,” he said, adding that it was an offence for anyone to keep or own turtles or their products without permission from the department.

Offenders may be fined a maximum of RM250,000 and jailed for one to five years if found guilty, he said.

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