Smuggler Caught With More Than 200 Live Animals in Suitcases
Unbelievable variety of wildlife species discovered in three suitcases at Bangkok airport
A 34-year-old Indonesian man was recently arrested at Bangkok airport when airport authorities discovered more than 200 live animals in his three suitcases, including a parrot. It turned out that he was attempting to smuggle some endangered wildlife species such as ploughshare tortoises.
The suspect admitted that he purchased the animals at Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, a center for the illegal trade of some of the world’s rarest and most endangered species. This illegal trade continues openly at the market every weekend.
Regional Director of the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC) commented “It speaks well of a few alert enforcement authorities when such seizures happen. The Airport Authority is to be commended. However, one really has to question how Chatuchak Market, which is located just down the street from both Wildlife Protection and Nature Crime Police Offices, can continue these illegal mass sales.”
TRAFFIC representatives expressed their surprise at the volume and variety of wildlife in the suitcases.
Here is the TRAFFIC list of what was found in the man’s three cases:
The suspect is now in custody and will soon face a range of smuggling charges that could result in fines as well as several years in prison.
This is not the first time that wildlife smugglers have been caught at Bangkok International Airport. In the summer of last year, a woman was arrested for trying to smuggle a live tiger cub disguised as a cuddly toy in her suitcase.
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Kittipong Khawsamang, deputy chief of the CIB’s natural resources and environmental crime suppression division, said his agency resolved to take over the case after Racha Thewa police told him “that a very famous politician has pressured them to return the passport to the suspect”. An initial investigation had found the suspect was an alleged member of a huge wildlife trafficking ring with links to an international crime network.