Police apprehended two individuals for attempting to smuggle 81 live monkeys alongside a stash of class A drugs. The pair, believed to be connected to an international wildlife trafficking network, were caught transporting numerous macaques with concealed methamphetamine pills and crystal meth in sealed blue bags near Thailand’s border with Cambodia.
Photographs depicted the two men in handcuffs after the Royal Thai Police arrested them following a vehicle interception in the Sa Kaeo province. The authorities seized both the drugs and the monkeys, with the suspects facing charges under wildlife protection and drug legislation.
According to a statement released on Facebook by the 12th Ranger Regiment of the Royal Thai Army, they pursued the “suspicious vehicle,” a dark grey Toyota Revo, along Road 3383 towards a “natural channel” near the Cambodian border during the operation on Friday.
The vehicle then traveled approximately “440 meters” off the main road before parking close to the border, where the men assisted each other in unloading the blue net bags containing the monkeys and drugs.
An army officer arrived at the scene and conducted checks on the suspects, but they quickly reentered the car and sped away, leaving “a blue mesh bag containing a number of monkeys” on the ground. A pursuit ensued, resulting in the soldiers halting the suspects and alerting wildlife checkpoint officials and police.
Initial investigations indicated that the two men had been hired to transport the monkeys to Cambodia as part of the thriving trade in endangered animals in Southeast Asia. Macaques, which can fetch substantial sums internationally, are often smuggled using the same means as drug and human traffickers.
Earlier, rangers on patrol near Thailand’s Khlong Hat District by the Cambodian border heard “unusual animal noises” emanating from a sugarcane field. Upon investigation, they discovered 62 long-tailed macaques in 10 large plastic baskets. The monkeys, comprising 44 males and 18 females, were found in a weakened condition and were subsequently taken to a wildlife rescue center for care.
Somruek Suppamitkrisana, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Division, remarked, “The consecutive discoveries of such incidents highlight the ongoing threat posed by wildlife trafficking networks, particularly concerning long-tailed macaques, which are highly sought after globally.”