Police bust wildlife smuggling syndicate
Published on July 03, 2005

Udon Thani police yesterday busted a wildlife smuggling syndicate with three tiger carcasses and 150 pangolins, hidden in the back of two pickup trucks.

The bust - headed by Maj-General Khemanat Sukjaroen, commander of the provincial police force - was made at the Udon Thani-Khon Kaen bypass intersection. Three suspects - Sunthorn Semho, 38, Preeda Thepchai, 38 and Nikhom Hemthanon, 31 - were arrested. The two pickup trucks were also seized,

Three tiger carcasses were found wrapped up in plastic sheets and kept in large iceboxes.

About 150 pangolins were found inside fruit boxes in the flatbeds of the pickups.

Sunthorn, Preeda and Nikhom were charged with conspiring to possess endangered species.

At the time of arrest, Prathan Wangsin, 31, contacted police, offering them Bt150,000 in return for dropping the charges and releasing the three suspects.

Police set up a meeting with Prathan and he was arrested and charged with offering bribes to police.

All four said they were hired by “Jo” and “Roh” (last names unknown), from Narathiwat,

to transport the animals -

which originated in Malaysia

- to Lao clients in Nong Khai.

The tigers and pangolins were destined for China. The suspects said they were paid Bt15,000 to make the trip. A tiger carcass fetches Bt250,000, while pangolins fetches between Bt900 and Bt1,200 a kilogram.
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