KARACHI: In an unusual raid, Pakistani police confiscated thousands of donkey hides, that were slated to be illegally exported to China, and arrested six handlers including a Chinese national, police and customs officials on Thursday said.
The raid was carried on a tip-off that the skins were brought from eastern city of Lahore and hid at a shop in Gulistane Jauhar area in eastern district of this port city.
The artfully peeled off 4736 and more skins were stuffed in about 592 bags to be shipped to China.
“We learnt through our sources about the trafficking of donkey skins and raided the spot and arrested six persons including a Chinese citizen and a Pakistani woman,” Israr Afridi, the inspector who led the raid told Gulf News.
He said that the arrested Chinese was identified as Tu Zhong Xiao, the main handler and investor of the illegal trade. Among other arrested men included Ehtesham Ahmad Ali and his wife Afshan, who would obtain the rates of the hides and skins from different sources for the Chinese.
Afridi said that during the raid 592 bags were recovered from the shop that contained 4,736 skins Although, criminal cases were registered against all the accused under Pakistan Penal Code, the police was not capable to handle the illegal export case so they referred the case to Pakistan Customs for further action.
A custom official said that upon interrogating the suspects another raid was carried out overnight and 300 more hides were recovered in 50 bags.
When contacted to a customs officer, he said that the police had carried the raid on a tip-off from Pakistan Customs that also conducted a separate raid overnight and confiscated more 300 hides and skins of the donkeys.
“Yes, we have the suspects in our custody now and we are investigating them and expecting to find good leads towards the broader network of this illegal trade that also involved trading of donkey meat,” Ali Raza, a customs collector told Gulf News.
He referred to a customs haul of a donkey meat consignment that was off late detected and confiscated.
“Besides illegal export of the hides, the trade of its meat has also been a matter of great concern,” he said.
Donkey-hide gelatin has no commercial value in Pakistan, but is high in demand in China as an ingredient for traditional medicine to treat health problems such as anaemia and menopause-linked ailments.
Hooves also contain gelatin, while the meat, consumed in parts of China, is believed to be more nutritious than beef and is enjoyed in burgers or stewed.
The gelatin, known in China as ejiao, is dissolved into hot beverages, or mixed with nuts and seeds as a snack.
