Premchai’s wife likely to be charged with possession of elephant tusks

BANGKOK, March 6 (TNA) – The police wait for the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to file a complaint against the wife of construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta for having ivory tusks in her possession. After two pairs of elephant tusks were confiscated under a court warrant from the home of accused poacher, Premchai at Soi Soonvijai in Bangkok. Samples of the elephant tusks were collected for DNA tests by the national parks department to prove the place of origin. Deputy Police Chief, Pol Gen Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul said that he has not yet received a report on the test result but it is confirmed that they do not belong to Thai elephants, so it cannot be registered with the department. Mr Premchai’s wife registered the tusks as from domestic elephants. In Thailand, it is illegal to have an African elephant tusk in possession as it violates the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Pol Gen Srivara said that the department has to file a complaint with the police at the Makkasan police station to take a legal action against Premchai’s wife for having ivory tusks in possession. President of Italian-Thai Development plc (ITD), Premchai faces charges related to hunting of protected wildlife and having firearms in possession at the Western Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in Kanchanaburi. The deputy police chief affirmed that the police do not investigate the black leopard hunting case in favour of Mr Prechai. (TNA)