Bangkok--21 Feb--FREELAND
The Royal Thai Police raided an illicit wildlife warehouse today in Ang Thong, central Thailand, seizing hundreds of reptiles and arresting the owner. FREELAND Foundation provided a tip off that led the police to the suspected warehouse. There, the Police found more then 200 monitor lizards destined for sale in markets in China. The police arrested one suspect, the warehouse owner, who now faces a maximum penalty of four years in prison and a 40,000 Baht fine (about US$ 1300). The raid represents an important step by police investigators in an ongoing investigation of a criminal wildlife trafficking network. The investigation began with the discovery and raid on an Ayutthaya, Thailand warehouse last year.
Inspector Kiattisak Bamrungsawat, Deputy Commander of the Thai Nature Crime Police, led the operation. The suspect has allegedly been actively poaching the lizards from the wild for over 10 years. He kept them in five holding tanks on his property, awaiting export. Investigators believe the suspect is connected to the same criminal syndicate responsible for an illegal wildlife warehouse uncovered in Ayutthaya on October 22, last year. The syndicate is responsible for trafficking huge amounts of threatened wildlife into China, using established trade routes through Lao PDR.
“Stealth enforcement operations like these are not easy,” said Steven Galster, Director of FREELAND. “FREELAND congratulates the Thai Nature Crime Police for acting swiftly and professionally on a tip off that has put a wildlife criminal out of business, while freeing hundreds of wild animals.”
Southeast Asia is known to be a major source of illegally traded wildlife, supplying a vast global market whose profit margins are surpassed only by drugs and arms. China and Vietnam are the largest consumer markets for Southeast Asia’s protected reptiles. The illegal trade to demand for these species is a major threat to their survival in the wild. Thailand is a leading member of the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), under which the Nature Crime Police received 3 years of training to conduct wildlife enforcement operations. ASEAN-WEN and FREELAND conduct training throughout the region.
For more information, contact FREELAND Communications Liaison Seamas McCaffrey at +66 2 204 2719