Indonesia arrests kangaroo smuggler

East Java maritime police officer Widarmanto said that the police had caught the man off the coast of Surabaya with the red kangaroos.

Indonesian police said on Saturday they had arrested a man believed to have smuggled 10 rare kangaroos by boat from New Guinea island.

East Java maritime police officer Widarmanto said that the police had caught the man on Friday off the coast of Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, with the red kangaroos.

"When we caught him, five of the red kangaroos were already dead. The police then safeguarded the other five," Widarmanto, who goes by one name, said.

"The man said that he bought the kangaroos for two million rupiah (212 dollars) each."

The police were investigating whether the suspect was connected to a network of rare animal traders.

The suspect, named Mulyadi, faces up to five years in jail for violating conservation laws.

Kangaroos are native only to Australia and New Guinea, an island divided between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.