KOTA KINABALU, Feb 24 — A tourist resort in Semporna has been raided by authorities for allegedly offering exotic wildlife dishes to its guests, including pangolin soup.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar said the department carried out an integrated operation, dubbed “Op Khazanah,” on Sunday.
The raid was conducted jointly with the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), specifically the Sandakan-based General Operations Force (GOF) Battalion 22.
In a statement today, Soffian said the operation was launched following intelligence gathering regarding the alleged storage and preparation of protected wildlife for exotic meals aimed at the tourist market.
During the raid, enforcement officers discovered a live Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica), a species classified as Totally Protected under Sabah law.
They also found a dish believed to be pangolin soup, along with several other meals suspected to contain protected wildlife meat.
“Three individuals were arrested to assist in investigations under the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997,” Soffian said.
He stressed that the pangolin is listed under Schedule 1 of the Enactment. The department strictly does not issue any licences or permits to individuals or premises — including tourism operators — to possess, store, sell, or serve the critically endangered species as food.
Offenders convicted under this section face severe penalties: a fine of between RM50,000 and RM250,000, and imprisonment of one to five years.
The pangolin is currently recognised as the world’s most trafficked mammal and is globally listed as a critically endangered species.
Soffian issued a stern warning against any attempts to prepare protected wildlife as exotic food for tourists. He noted that such illicit practices not only violate state laws but severely tarnish Sabah’s reputation as a responsible ecotourism destination.
He added that surveillance and enforcement efforts will be intensified against any tourism premises found complicit in wildlife-related crimes.
