Transnational Wildlife Trafficking Operation Busted

CHUMPHON, May 2 (TNA) - The police have apprehended a group involved in the illegal smuggling of protected wildlife from Indonesia into Thailand, seizing 48 lemurs and over 1,000 radiated tortoises.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Watcharin Phusit, the chief of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division revealed that they received information about a suspicious convoy smuggling wildlife from Aceh, Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, via the Thai province of Satun, aiming for Bangkok.

Subsequently, the Thai police collaborated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to track and intercept the convoy consisting of four vehicles at a hotel in Muang District, Chumphon Province.

Upon inspection, they found seven people, including four men and three women, inside the four vehicles. They were found in possession of the smuggled wildlife, including the 48 lemurs and 1,076 radiated tortoises, kept in cages.
Authorities are currently expanding their investigation and plan to press charges against all individuals involved in the trafficking operation, including charges related to possession of controlled wildlife without permission, aiding in the movement of wildlife, and assisting in smuggling wildlife into the kingdom to evade customs duties. All suspects have denied the allegations. -819 (TNA)