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Thai customs photo: The man also had snakes in his luggage
Photo: AFP
A man from Mongolia was arrested in Thailand for trying to smuggle Komodo dragons, pythons and turtles out of the country. The Mongolian was arrested after his luggage was searched, said the spokesman for the customs authority. He wanted to travel from Suvarnabhumi Airport in the Thai capital Bangkok to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.
While searching his luggage, customs officials discovered two Komodo dragons, eight iguanas, five pythons, a boa constrictor, six Indian star tortoises and 24 live fish. Now the man is to answer for smuggling protected animals.
Thailand is an important transit country for wildlife smuggling; the contraband often goes to China or Vietnam. In October, Suvarnabhumi Airport suspended an employee after a traveler managed to smuggle more than 30 live animals onto a plane bound for Taiwan. These included 28 baby turtles, two baby otters and a marmot.
More than 1,700 animals smuggled into the USA
It was only in January that authorities in Australia uncovered a large-scale illegal trade in native lizards. The animals were intended for sale in Hong Kong. During the course of the investigation, officials confiscated a total of 257 animals in various parts of Sydney with a total value of more than 1.2 million Australian dollars (around 730,000 euros).
You can also make a lot of money trading wild animals in the USA. In 2022, a man pleaded guilty to smuggling more than 1,700 animals into the United States; prosecutors said they were worth a total of around $739,000.
The man admitted the crimes between January 2016 and February 2022 in a corresponding agreement with the public prosecutor. According to investigators, he organized the smuggling via social media and hired accomplices who crossed the border between the USA and Mexico with the animals.
bam/AFP