PATTAYA — Police search luxury home of Chinese couple in Pattaya, find 2 lions without possession permits
A luxury house in Soi Khao Talo, Moo 10, Nong Prue Subdistrict, Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province, was reported for allegedly keeping wild animals. Police obtained a search warrant to investigate and found two lions.
On July 5, Pol. Maj. Gen. Theerachai Chamnanmor, Commander of the Provincial Police Region 2 Investigation Division, along with investigation officers, executed a search warrant issued by Pattaya Provincial Court on July 4. They searched a house suspected of containing illegally obtained assets.
This luxurious two-story house is built on over half an acre of land. Officers found two Chinese homeowners, a married couple, and three Thai individuals – two men and one woman. The search uncovered two luxury cars: a red Ferrari without license plates and a white Rolls-Royce with red plates registered in Bangkok. Additionally, two male lions were found in cages next to the house.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Theerachai stated that the two male lions found are controlled wildlife, requiring possession permits, which the homeowners did not have. As for the luxury cars, only import invoices were present, so they were seized for further investigation regarding tax payment and proper importation.
“Initially, officers have issued a document prohibiting the relocation of the lions and seized both cars for inspection,” he said.
National Park Department officials preliminarily disclosed that since the homeowners couldn’t produce possession permits, further investigation is needed to determine how they obtained the two lions and whether it was legal.
Previously, there have been several cases of people possessing lions without permits. Most owners were wealthy, and many cases involved foreigners. Notably, in Pattaya, there was a case of a female lion cub riding in a Bentley limousine down a busy street, driven by a Sri Lankan man and owned by Miss Pupe, a Thai woman from Ratchaburi Province.
Another case involved two male and female lions appearing in a video briefly coming out of a residence in Huai Yai District, Chonburi Province. In both cases, the lion cubs came from a farm in Nakhon Pathom Province.
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