Group of porters arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport for smuggling turtles

BANGKOK, 6 November 2014 (NNT) - Suvarnabhumi International Airport authorities have arrested three men who were responsible for smuggling turtles for a wildlife trafficking gang.

Police at the airport have confiscated 669 Hamilton turtles worth over 2 million baht that were packed in 8 suitcases. Among those arrested include Mr. Pongsak Puyapan, Mr. Wanas Hatawiset, and Mr. Pariwat Hannarong, all of whom worked as porters for a contracting company.

Initially, the trio denied any involvement in smuggling the turtles into Thailand. However, they later confessed that they were paid 500 baht each to deliver these suitcases to an unknown individual at the airport’s parking lot.

According to the law, the three men were guilty of violating Section 27 of the Customs Act B.E. 2469 (1926) and the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act B.E. 2535 (1992).

All these turtles would be sent to the Fisheries Department Research and Development Center before they were released into the wild.


-- NNT 2014-11-06

Not a good idea to release them into the wild,these Turtles are not

a Thai species,but come from Pakistan ,India,so freeing them here,

who knows what diseases they have that they could pass on to the

local population (if theres any left) of Turtles.

Expect to see some for sale in Jatujak this weekend.

Makes you wonder what else these porters are getting past customs

controls,you can bet its more than Turtles.and paying them 500 THB,

they are cheap ass smugglers.

regards worgeordie

Troll post removed

" Among those arrested include Mr. Pongsak Puyapan, Mr. Wanas Hatawiset, and Mr. Pariwat Hannarong,"

Pongsak, wanas and pariwat ??? I knew those guys were shifty... I could tell by their name....

It may seem quite innocuous reading about this kind of crime, but the damage done by this kind of smuggling can be devastating to the environment and ecology.

The previous poster is quite correct, releasing a non indigenous species can be devastating. The Cane toads, foxes and rabbits in Australia are a (not so small) example of what damage can be done.

I am not a "tree hugger" but some thought should go into how these creatures are disposed of, an unfortunate option might be to destroy them, that's not good or desirable but it may be for the best in the long term!

It could have been drugs as well. If all they knew was they where getting 500 baht per case to deliver.

That's a major security lapse

Business was slow.

So they sent someone to catch the scum bag waiting for them in the car?

Of course not. They never do in Thailand. They just get the idiots at the airport, instead of say filling the bags with sand at the same original weights and following the men which would lead to the higher ups in the chain.

So they sent someone to catch the scum bag waiting for them in the car?

Of course not. They never do in Thailand. They just get the idiots at the airport, instead of say filling the bags with sand at the same original weights and following the men which would lead to the higher ups in the chain.

We are talking about turtles? Not smack or meth? Or is turtles the name of some new exotic drug?