In a rare attempt of smuggling, two Indian women were arrested after over 100 wild animals were found in their luggage at the Bangkok airport earlier this week. According to reports, the two accused were trying to smuggle the animals, including white porcupines, turtles, lizards and snakes on a Thai airways flight to Chennai. The information was shared by the Thailand Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation on its Facebook page.
Soon after the incident, Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation issued an official press release stating that the animals were found in two suitcases after an X-ray inspection.
The two accused, identified as Nithya Raja and Zakia Sulthana Ebrahim, were immediately taken into custoday and charged with violating the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2019, the Animal Disease Act of 2015 and the Customs Act of 2017, the Bangkok Post reported.
An Indian Express report also stated that two iguanas were found dead, while all other reptiles were in a dehydrated state. All the animals were provided with vitamin supplements, proper care and sent to a wildlife rescue centre, the report added quoting sources.
There has been no official confirmation about what the accused were planning to do with the animals upon their arrival at the destination.
Animal trafficking through airports has been one of the longstanding issue in Bangkok. Even last month, two back-to-back attempts of smuggling wild animals from Thiland were thwarted by customs authorities at the Chennai International Airport.
A passenger was nabbed by authorities after recovering an albino porcupine and a white-lipped red chested tamarin (monkey) from his baggage, news agency PTI had reported. The passenger had arrived at the Chennai airport from Bangkok.
According to a CNN report, a man arriving in Chennai from Bangkok in 2019 was reportedly arrested after customs officers reportedly found a month-old leopard cub in his luggage.