SONGKHLA, Jan 30 – Two Malaysian men were arrested in southern Thailand Monday for smuggling pangolins—an endangered species commonly known as the spiny anteater– while passing through the inbound immigration border checkpoint in Sadao district.
Forty-five pangolins weighing over 100kg were found in 24 net bags hidden under the back seat of the suspects’ vehicle.
The two men were identified as Mr Ahmad Ikram Bin Anuar and Muhamad Shaifol Bin Abidin.
The suspects were detained for questioning and confessed they had bought the wild animals from Malaysia in order to deliver them to customers in Thailand’s Sadao district.
Smuggling pangolins is against the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.
