Air Tenang Jangan Disangka Tak Ada Buaya (Ular Sawa)...

By ANN TAN

BALIK PULAU: Four men armed with two pistols held eight people hostage for more than five hours after a deal to trade python skins and mineral stones went sour in Pulau Betong here.

The buyer and his seven workers met the four men inside a hut at 2am yesterday but could not come to an agreement on price.

Illegal business: DCP Ayub (right) looking at th sheets of python skin recovered from the hut in Pulau Betong.

It is also believed that the buyer also owed the four men a large sum of money from an earlier transaction.

Tempers flared which led to the eight being forced into a room at gunpoint following an argument.

State police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Ayub Yaakob said the police received a tip-off about the matter at 2.50am and monitored the situation for a few hours before surrounding the hut at 9am.

“We managed to persuade the four men, in their 20s and 30s, from the Klang Valley to surrender and release their hostages after a 50-minute negotiation. Nobody was injured during the tense situation.

“Two Sig Sauer pistols with two magazines, a shotgun, a BMW, a Perodua Myvi, 164 python skins and over ten buckets of mineral stones were seized, together with the arrest of the 12 people,” he told a press conference yesterday.

In custody: The suspects being led away from the crime scene in Pulau Betong yesterday.

DCP Ayub said the stones, containing traces of gold were smuggled here from a neighbouring country, adding that the python skins would be sent to the state Wildlife department to see if they were from protected species.

“Our investigations showed that the hut had been a centre for smuggling for quite some time. We are now looking for the other accomplices.

“We are investigating the case as wrongful confinement under Section 342 of the Penal Code and firearms possession under Section 8 of the Firearms Act (Increased Penalties),” he added.

State Wildlife operations enforcement unit chief Khairul Nizam Yahaya said the python skins could be sold for between RM200 and RM300 each to be made into handbags and shoes.

From The Star: Deal to trade python skins goes sour