Gan Ping Sin, the marine police chief of Sandakan, in Borneo's eastern state of Sabah, said the eggs, worth 11,250 ringgit (3,580 dollars), were seized in an operation on Friday.

"The turtle eggs were seized from a boat in the Malaysian water during our operation but the boat operator managed to escape," Gan told AFP.

"We believe the eggs are smuggled in from a neighbouring country," he said but refused to identify which one.

The turtle eggs have been handed to wildlife authorities, Gan said, vowing to step up police operations in the area which he said had seen "quite rampant" turtle egg smuggling.

Turtle eggs are openly sold in markets in parts of Malaysia. Turtles once arrived in their thousands to lay their eggs on Malaysian beaches but are now increasingly rare due to poaching and coastal development.

Under Malaysian law, it is illegal to collect turtle eggs without a permit from the fisheries department but steady demand for turtle products and eggs in Southeast Asia continues to drive the illegal trade.

This prompted environmental group WWF to launch a campaign to stop Malaysians eating turtles in April last year, in a bid to help save stocks of the sea creatures.

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