Immigration officers stopped Wei Shang, whom police also identify as Wilson Shang, at Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar on Sept. 14 as he was about to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur.
Makassar immigration chief Abdi Widodo Subagio told CNN Indonesia his office had received a letter from the Raja Ampat regency government that afternoon asking that Shang be barred from leaving the country, and officers then found his name on the passenger manifest.
Police say the incident took place between Sept. 8 and 11 near a homestay in the Fam Islands, where Shang allegedly dived with a speargun alongside two other people, Compass reported.
Raja Ampat’s waters are home to more than 1,600 reef fish species and more than 550 coral species, giving the archipelago the richest marine biodiversity on Earth, according to the Raja Ampat Marine Park Authority. Hawksbill turtles are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Videos and photos allegedly showing the hunt spread on social media, prompting the agency that manages Raja Ampat’s marine conservation area to report the case to police, according to Between.
The footage allegedly shows a speargun being aimed at the turtle’s neck, killing the animal, Commissioner Jenny S.A. Hengkelare, a spokesperson for the Southwest Papua Regional Police, told the state news agency.
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A hawksbill turtle. Photo by Thierry Caro |
“The police have obtained electronic evidence and documents, including video footage allegedly showing the turtle hunt and photographs depicting activities after the animal was allegedly cooked and consumed,” she said.
Investigators have also searched the seabed at the suspected hunting site as well as the homestay, she added.
“The person in the video is not me,” Shang said, according to Indonesian CNA.
He said the other two were travelers he had just met and shared lodging and a boat with to cut costs. According to Shang, he learned about the turtle only when they brought it back to the homestay, where he told them it was not allowed.
Shang was handed over to the immigration office in Sorong, the capital of Southwest Papua, on Sept. 16, Between reported. Police have so far described him as the reported party in the case rather than a suspect.
Police said the case falls under Article 40A of Indonesia’s 2024 conservation law. The provision carries three to 15 years in prison and a fine of IDR200 million to IDR5 billion (US$11,300 – 282,000), state broadcaster RRI reported.
If found guilty, Shang could also be deported and blacklisted, a Makassar immigration official said.
AIDA International, the freediving body that certified him as an instructor trainer, suspended that status on Sept. 16 pending its own investigation, DIVE Magazine reported.