Thai police arrest tiger trafficking kingpin
May 23rd, 2011 - 8:40 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattBangkok, May 23 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Thai authorities have announced that they have arrested the leader of a tiger trafficking ring. The police have been hunting for the alleged mastermind of the huge tiger trafficking in the country for months now. He was arrested on Saturday.
The suspect has been identified as a 49-year-old and the police say they have been on his trail since a warrant was issued for him in 2010. In the police statement which was issued to the public, the warrant was issued after the police intercepted an attempt to traffic a Bengal tiger to China.
The police said the ring operates by buying and selling the tigers. They say the ring’s main market is believed to be in China where the animals are smuggled through Laos and Vietnam. Bengal tigers are among the protected animals in the world due to their dwindling numbers.
Wildlife officials blame the declining habitats of the animals as the major cause for the drop in the species’ numbers. However poachers also hunt the animals down for their skin and other parts which are in high demand in China.
Several other arrests have been made in Thailand in the past years concerning the trafficking of the animals.
- Thai navy rescues 800 dogs from smugglers - Jan 12, 2012
- More foreign women being trafficked to China - Dec 05, 2011
- Raj Thackeray puts cash rewards to save tigers - Jun 01, 2012
- International meet on tiger begins - Jul 12, 2010
- US sanctions Dawood aides Chhota Shakeel, Tiger Memon - May 16, 2012
- China busts gun trafficking ring - Oct 20, 2011
- Tigers facing doom in Bangladesh? - Jul 30, 2011
- Sariska area villagers protest relocation - Mar 31, 2012
- Rise in trafficking of Chinese women - Jan 24, 2011
- Fighting chance for India's tigers: Poaching declines - Feb 08, 2012
- US slaps sanctions against Chhota Shakeel, Tiger Memon (Lead) - May 16, 2012
- Now, tigers and leopards targeted by Maoists - Sep 12, 2012
- Chinese police bust drug ring - Jun 28, 2012
- Three Myanmar soldiers killed in Mekong river clash - Dec 12, 2011
- Police arrests smugglers of rare Sumatran tiger body parts - Jul 19, 2010
Tags: animals in the world, bangkok, bengal tiger, bengal tigers, china, habitats, kingpin, laos, mastermind, poachers, police arrest, police statement, species numbers, thai authorities, thai police, tiger, trafficking, vietnam, warrant, wildlife officials