Crime
4 Suspects In Wildlife Trade Arrested Across Thailand
(CTN News) – Thailand’s environmental police arrested 4 suspected wildlife traders today. On June 14, the Nonthaburi Provincial Court issued arrest warrants for the group on charges of illegal wildlife trading and illegal possession of protected species.
Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression officers searched Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Ayutthaya, and Suphan Buri before detaining the suspects.
When questioned, the suspects allegedly confessed to having purchased Indochinese tigers for sale. The Indochina tiger is an endangered species. In Thailand’s central province of Suphan Buri, one of the suspects owned a tiger zoo.
A 56-year-old man, a 53-year-old man, a 43-year-old man, and a 25-year-old woman are suspected.
Wildlife smuggling remains a problem in Thailand, including tiger smuggling. Three men confessed to importing a tiger cub from Laos in April.
A Honda pickup truck inside the Central Westgate Mall car park in Bang Yai district of Nonthaburi contained the cub in a basket. A tiger cub was seized by the police and handed over to the Wildlife Conservation Office Thailand.
There were several investigations last year that showed tourist guides and information centers in Southeast Asia were fueling the illegal wildlife trade by facilitating tourist consumption.
Hong Hoang, founder and executive director of Vietnam-based environmental NGO CHANGE, said illegal wildlife traders often pay guides and tourist offices to send people their way.
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