DENPASAR (indo.com): As part of massive campaign to enforce national regulation prohibiting the trade of the endangered green turtles, Bali's Water police continue to conduct a sweep to those fraudsters, who sell the green turtles illegally.

A local media reported that the fraudsters who sell the endangered green turtles will be taken to court and face a maximum punishment of five years in prisons and be required to pay Rp100 millions in fine (approx.US$12,000).

Bali's Water Police had seized at least 120 turtles in a raid on the fish markets in Tanjung Benoa and Jimbaran - Bali recently. Two of those endangered green turtles are now being cared for by local conservation officers to serve as evidence in the coming trials, while the other have been set free in the seas.

Local police will also conduct a raid on satay sellers who try to sell the turtles meat. The illegal hunt for the green turtles can pose a threat to the ongoing preservation efforts on the endangered green turtles. The number of the green turtles has continued to decrease.

Local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have frequently lodged complaints to Bali administration about the existence of satay sellers who sell turtle meats. They have expressed concerns over the rampant trade of green turtles in Indonesia.