RAWALPINDI: The Airport Security Force (ASF) foiled an attempt to smuggle 11 partridges in two suitcases to Birmingham, United Kingdom, and arrested a British national at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Thursday.

The birds were discovered by ASF personnel while checking the luggage of passengers on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-791 to Birmingham. Assistant Sub-Inspector Niaz Ahmed of the ASF declared two suitcases suspicious while they were being scanned.

The owner of the suitcases, a British national, was asked to go through a baggage search leading the ASF to recover six black and give grey partridges from the two suitcases. Black partridges have the ability to mimic speech, while grey ones can fight. The wildlife department estimated that the birds could value over Rs600,000.

Last September, an attempt to smuggle seven partridges to Manchester was foiled by customs authorities. A senior security official said the suspect was from Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, and had said his friends in the UK suggested he bring partridges from Pakistan because he would make a handsome profit from selling them.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2017