BANGKOK – The Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division police officers collaborated with the Department of National Parks’ Hawks Operations Team to raid and arrest three suspects, as well as seize evidence: 21 bulbuls, one pickup truck, and one bus with a Lao licence plate parked inside the tour parking lot on Soi Ramintra, Chorakae Bua Subdistrict, Lat Phrao District, Bangkok on January 9, 2024.
Previously, officials had received intelligence that a gang of foreigners were smuggling wild animals hidden in various products aboard an international bus that had been turned to transfer goods to neighbouring nations.
As a result, they deployed forces to the area until they discovered that products would be unloaded in a tour parking lot in the Ramindra area, so they sent forces to monitor.
Officers subsequently spotted the three suspects assisting with the transfer of items from a pickup truck to a bus. So they walked in to investigate and discovered 21 bulbuls, which are protected wild animals, hiding in cardboard boxes.
In addition, exotic species such as 929 turtles, 4 chameleons, and 6 snakes were discovered stowed in concealed compartments during the vehicle inspection. So they seized all of them for inspection and detained three suspects for questioning.
Initially, all three suspects—Mr. Nguyen Din Dai, 38; Mr. Nguyen Tien Thanh, 39; and Mr. Nguyen Duy Quy, 40—confirmed that they had been recruited for 4,200 baht to transport the bulbuls to a bordering nation. They will receive their salary once the product has been delivered. They had changed the vehicles to avoid police suspicion.
They were charged with “conspiring to possess protected wild animals without permission” before being detained with the confiscated items. Investigators from Division 1 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division will continue to work on the investigation.
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