A Mongolian man was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Saturday, as he attempted to smuggle live protected animals out of the country, said Customs spokesperson Phantong Loykulnanta today.

 

The suspect was about to board a flight to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, when officials found 46 fish, two Komodo dragons, six Indian star tortoises, six iguanas, five pythons and a boa constrictor inside his luggage, which was to be loaded into the plane’s cargo hold.

 

They are all protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).The suspect will be charged with a ttempting to export untaxed goods and with the smuggling of protected species, he added.

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2024-02-20

 

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Good to see that security Suvarnabhumi airport stopped this live export of endangered animals (and likely saved the lives of these critters).

 

We are all aware that baggage cases get scanned before loading onto planes. They are not just looking for explosives or stuff that will endanger an aircraft. I had first hand experience of this 2 years ago. Flew from Bangkok to London. On arrival, my passport would not work in the e-gate. Went to counter with passport. Immediately was accompanied by customs to a holding area. This was before collecting baggage. Was questioned then taken to retrieve baggage. Baggage was thouroughly searched and intense and repetitive questioning for nearly an hour. What were they suspicious of? In my cases was about 25kgs of massage balm brought for a friend who owns a Thai massage spa. Also, the item they were really interesd in, was an urn of ashes of a deceased aquaintance (brought back for his family and I had all the required paperwork). They scanned it but would not open the box - I told them he wouldn't complain! They didn't even swab for narcotics but it looked like organic on the scan. They let me go with no issue. Clearly, London had been tipped off by Bangkok that there was something suspicious in my baggage. When asked this, the officer wouldn't say.

 

When I flew into Istanbul Airport a few years ago the customs officer swabbed my bag which indicated a high quantity of heroin/opium.  When I explained that I was a teacher in Burma the officer exclaimed "ah yes, no problem - everything in Burma tests positive for opium, clothes, money, bags etc!"

47 minutes ago, webfact said:

which was to be loaded into the plane’s cargo hold.

They most likely would have frozen to death ,

 

regards Worgeordie

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The suspect was about to board a flight to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, when officials found 46 fish, two Komodo dragons, six Indian star tortoises, six iguanas, five pythons and a boa constrictor inside his luggage, which was to be loaded into the plane’s cargo hold.

So they do look at the X-ray screens occasionally

komdo drangons?

3 hours ago, worgeordie said:

They most likely would have frozen to death ,

 

regards Worgeordie

 

Possibly they would just enter a cold torpor such as affects Floridas famous falling Iguanas.

 

"Generally, the temperature in the hold is kept between 12 and 16 Celsius (54 and 61 Fahrenheit) depending on the aircraft and its cargo load."

https://www.quora.com/At-what-temperature-is-checked-in-luggage-stored-in-an-airplane

 

I think word would have got around the animal smuggling fraternity if contraband animals were routinely "batch dying" in their luggage.

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 20242 yr by Enoon

The guy was going to start a zoo by the look of things

Evil person - 10 years jail minimum

30 minutes ago, Grumpy one said:

The guy was going to start a zoo by the look of things

A restaurant is more likely.

 

Live animal smuggler caught at Bangkok airport

 

Cunning. If the smuggler had been dead they would have no one to point at. 😋