JAKARTA — Indonesian authorities have arrested seven suspected members of a trafficking ring believed to have used Facebook and other social media to sell at least 40 Komodo dragons and other protected species.
Police are holding five of the suspects in Surabaya, in East Java province, and two in Jakarta, the capital, according to Wiratno, the head of conservation at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The suspects were found in possession of six baby Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis), bearcats (Arctictis binturong), a type of civet, and various endangered birds, including cockatoos and cassowaries.
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