Taiwanese man arrested for animal smuggling at Bangkok airport
Officers from Suvarnabhumi Animal Quarantine at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok arrested a Taiwanese man for animal smuggling yesterday, December 5.
Suvarnabhumi Animal Quarantine chief Phakkapong Phathong said officers received a report of a suspicious Taiwanese man at 9.05am that day. Officers suspected that the 22 year old Taiwanese man was concealing live animals in his clothing when he passed through an X-ray machine at an international departure checkpoint.
The suspect was invited into a separate room for further investigation and officers eventually found three animals hidden in his boxer shorts. The three animals included a Parry dog and two Asian small-clawed otters, which are protected animals in Thailand.
Pictures released by the authorities showed that the animals had been placed in three separate stockings. Each stocking was attached to the Taiwanese man’s wrist with plastic tape, and the man was wearing a bonnet to cover the animals.
The animals were transferred to the Wildlife Conservation Bureau of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation for a health check and further care.
The Taiwanese suspect faces charges including:
- Sections 23, 93 and 112 of the Animal Conservation and Protection Act: importing or exporting wild animals or animal carcasses without permission. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to 1 million baht, or both.
- Section 242 of the Customs Act: importing or exporting goods which have not been passed through customs processes or without permission. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of four times the goods’ price and customs fee, or both.
- Section 244 of the Customs Act: importing or exporting goods in a manner to avoid restrictions or prohibitions of such goods. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to 500,000 baht, or both.
- Section 31 of the Animal Epidemics Act: importing or exporting animals or animal carcasses without a permit. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to 200,000 baht, or both.
