Aizawl, May 26: Mizoram police on Wednesday recovered around 468 smuggled wildlife species and arrested five people in connection to the case.

A team of the Champhai Police, while acting on specific input, nabbed Gospel Chanchintha (28), a resident of Lawngtlai district in Mizoram, and his four accomplices from Zokhawthar, an Indo-Myanmar border town.

The five were trying to cross the river Tiau with cages containing animals.

Among the rescued animals were, four tortoises, 11 snakes, 442 lizards, four toed sloths, two beavers, one wild cat and four patos.

“The illegal traffickers tried to cross over and evade the police check-gate by walking on foot and carrying the smuggled exotic species by head-load,” informed a police communique.

All the seized animals along with the five traffickers were promptly handed over to the Customs Preventive Force in Champhai through the District Wildlife Crime Control Sub-Unit.

Earlier on in May 8, a particular consignment was seized from Khankawn near the Mizoram-Myanmar border. Inside were kangaroo rats, meerkats, white cockatoos and Burmese pythons, which are not exotic animals indigenous to India.

A police official, who would like to remain anonymous, said Mizoram, as well as other Northeastern states that border Myanmar, have become an active route for smuggling of exotic animals from South East Asian countries to mainland India. These animals are smuggled into India from countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar where there are exotic animal breeding farms.

There were instances where investigations into seizure of exotic animals in West Bengal and as far as Andhra Pradesh were traced back to Mizoram.

The police official said most of the people arrested with smuggled animals were only transporters doing their job to earn a living.