Russian man faces 5-years in prison after orangutan seized at Indonesian airport

24 Mar, 2019 10:23

A Russian national faces five years in prison for attempting to smuggle an endangered orangutan and several reptiles to Russia from Indonesia. Andrei Zhestkov, 27, was caught with the two-year old orangutan as he attempted to go through security at Bali’s Denpasar Airport on Friday. Dewa Delanata, an airport official, said the primate had been heavily-drugged and that drugs also found in Zhestkov’s luggage were to be re-administered when they transitioned in South Korea, according to the Jakarta Post. Zhestkov, meanwhile, claims he received the orangutan from a friend and that he was under the impression it was OK for him to keep the animal in Russia as a pet.