Image: Thailand Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
Last Monday, June 27, Thai officials arrested two women at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on charges of smuggling 109 wild animals.
In a press release, Thailand’s Ministry of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation confirmed that Xray inspection found the animals in two different checked bags.
After the discovery, authorities quickly arrested two Indian women who owned the luggage, identified by the Bangkok Post as Nithya Raja, 38, and ZakiaSulthana Ebrahim, 24. Police officers approached the women before boarding a flight bound for Chennai, India.
Several wild animals were found in the bags, including two armadillos, two porcupines, 20 snakes, 35 turtles and 50 lizards. Although severely dehydrated, most of the animals survived, only two died.
Image: Thailand Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
Image: Thailand Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
Image: Thailand Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
Most of these animals are under environmental protection or are unsuitable for most environments other than their own habitat. Turtles come from a family that is on the International Vulnerable Species List.
The suspects were arrested for violating Thailand’s Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act 2019, Animal Disease Act 2015 and Customs Act 2017. Both face up to 10 years in prison.
Authorities did not share the suspects’ intentions if they successfully landed the animals in Chennai. There is also no information about the whereabouts of the rescued animals, whether they need special care, whether they are going back to nature or whether they are going to an animal center.
According to Agência Pressenza, according to TRAFFIC, a nongovernmental organization that studies the wildlife trade, exotic animal smuggling is the fourth most recent illegal trade, behind only arms, drugs and human trafficking.
A March 2022 report by TRAFFIC shows that between 2011 and 2020, 140 searches at 18 different Indian airports found at least 70,000 wild and exotic animals. More than a third of these crimes occurred at Chennai International Airport.
The report said: “Chennai International Airport, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of wildlife confiscations, followed by Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai and Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi.