Thread: 136 pangolins, 450kg scales seized

Customs officials seized 136 pangolins and 450 kilogrammes of pangolin scales, worth about 2.5 million baht on Wednesday (Aug 30) night in Pran Buri district of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Customs Department director-general Kulit Sombatsiri said.

Mr Kulit said on receiving information that pangolins and pangolin scales would be smuggled from Malaysia and transported by pick-up trucks to Chumphon, customs officials were deployed along the highway leading to the province.

On the night of Aug 30, the officials spotted two pick-up trucks suspected to be carrying the protected animals and followed them to Pran Buri district in Prachuap Khiri Khan. There, the pick-ups were stopped for a search.

The officials found in the two vehicles 136 living pangolins and 450kg of pangolin scales.

Trade in pangolins and their scales are prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Their import is also prohibited by the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 1992.

On Aug 22, customs officials seized six elephant tusks weighing altogether 2.8kg, worth about 250,000 baht, the Customs Department chief said.

In 2017, the Customs Department has seized a large number of pangolins and 2.9 tonnes of pangolin products, worth about 29 million baht, and seized 16,730 pieces of ivory products, weighing altogether about 75kg, worth about 7.5 million baht.

According to WWF, pangolins are “one of the most trafficked mammals in Asia.” Pangolins are in high demand in countries like China and Vietnam. Their meat is considered a delicacy and pangolin scales are used in traditional medicine and folk remedies to treat a range of ailments from asthma to rheumatism and arthritis.

136 pangolins, 450kg scales seized - Thai PBS English News

That's an ENORMOUS quantity !

136 living pangolins and 450kg of pangolin scales....in this seizure alone.

In 2017, the Customs Department has seized a large number of pangolins and 2.9 tonnes of pangolin products.


Jesus ! It's a wonder there are any of these creatures left ! And there soon may not be.

I feel very strongly about trafficking like this. The laws need to be changed so that the death penalty applies to traffickers.

And to start off, I'd like to go undercover and kill some of these pricks...

Smuggled pangolins and scales are believed to originate from Penang

The consignment of 136 pangolins and 450 kilogrammes of pangolin scales seized in Prachuab Khiri Khan on Aug 30 by customs officials was believed to originate from Penang in Malaysia.

Somkiat Soontornpitakkool, director of the Division of Wild Fauna and Flora Protection under the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said Tuesday (Sept 5) that the 50-kg bags which were used to contain the pangolin scales came from an animal feed factory in Butterworth industrial estate in Penang, indicating that the pangolin scales were stuffed in the bags in this area.

He estimated that as many as 1,350 pangolins might have been killed to obtain 450 kgs of their scales.

Mr Somkiat noted that this new piece of information appeared to reinforce the suspicion that the wildlife trafficking gang is based in Penang, citing an earlier interception of two orangutans and Indian star tortoise by customs officials at Padang Besar border checkpoint which were found to originate from Penang.

He went on saying that Penang was an ideal transit point for the smuggling of protected wildlife into Thailand and further on to Thailand’s neighbouring countries because the port city is only one hour drive to the Thai border.

From Penang, he disclosed that the trafficking gang would travel via Asian highway No 2 to the Padang Besar border checkpoint in Sadao district of Songkhla province or via other nearby route which is equally convenient and does not take too much time.

Mr Somkiat also suspected that this wildlife trafficking operation was “facilitated” by some Thai authorities.

The drivers of the two pickup trucks intercepted by customs officials on Aug 30 have fled the scene and are still at large. But it took the customs officials in Prachuab Khiri Khan a few more days before they lodged a complaint with the police.

One of the two drivers was later found out to be linked to an influential wildlife trafficking gang in the Northeast. In mid-2014, officials of the Anti-Money Laundering Office seized 233 million baht worth of assets of the gang which was found to engage in business transactions valued at about 1.1 billion baht.

Smuggled pangolins and scales are believed to originate from Penang - Thai PBS English News