Porky predicament: DSI cracks down on three more shipping companies in illegal pork import saga

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is taking legal action against three additional shipping companies implicated in illegal pork importation.

Arrest warrants have been issued for three executives linked to these firms, according to Police Major Suriya Singhakamol, DSI director-general.

These latest developments follow the previous arrest of six executives hailing from five different shipping companies, all of whom were released after acknowledging a charge of importing pork without the necessary permissions.

The three recently implicated firms are said to have ties to a smuggling ring which, between 2020 and early this year, was involved in the illegal import of frozen pork via 2,386 cargo containers.

Allegedly, the companies were commissioned by businesses to transport the contraband pork. Pol. Maj. Suriya revealed that arrest warrants have also been issued for two business figures who reportedly ordered the illegal pork importation. The two individuals, apparently now overseas, have been in contact with the DSI, expressing a desire to return and contest the charges. It is expected that the pair will meet with investigators by tomorrow.

One of the accused is suspected to have organised the storage of 7.5 tonnes of illegal pork in a cold store facility in Samut Sakhon. Investigators are currently probing the ownership of the cold store and identifying who oversaw the distribution of the pork to other locations.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin expressed public frustration at the sluggish efforts to curb illegal pork imports during a discussion with officials shortly before departing for an APEC meeting in San Francisco, reported Bangkok Post.

The DSI director-general indicated that the increased governmental crackdown on this illicit trade has resulted in a surge of illegal pork products being stored in transit warehouses along the border of a neighbouring country, from where they are smuggled in smaller quantities to avoid detection.

In a concerning revelation, Pol. Maj. Suriya disclosed that the DSI has discovered that influential individuals, with the aid of certain state officials, are backing the pork smuggling operation.