An import company in Bangkok was busted yesterday for illegal possession of 20 protected animals.
Acting on a tip, the National Park Service and related agencies searched the Food and Cosmetics System Co. Ltd. on Sukhumvit Soi 68. Upon their arrival, they encountered Surachai Suttisarn, the 33-year-old company’s manager, who cooperated by showing them the wild animals, according to Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation.
On the premises, authorities found nine different wildlife species consisting of: two crab-eating macaques, one porcupine, a large-billed crow, an Asian koel, one common myna, one great myna, five red-whiskered bulbuls, seven yellow-headed turtles, and one Amboina box turtle.
All of the animals, except for the red-whiskered bulbuls, the porcupine, and the turtles, were albino.
It is an ancient Thai belief that cream or white-colored animals bring fortune and glory to the owners.
Officials estimate that the total worth of the animals is about THB176,000 (about US$5,300).
After Surachai admitted that the company did not have legal documentation authorizing their possession of the protected animals, he was taken to the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division.
Authorities charged him with violating section 19 of the 1992 Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act, which criminalizes the possession of preserved and protected wild animals without permission.
The crime is punishable by up to four years of imprisonment and/or a fine not exceeding THB40,000 (about US$1,200)
Authorities are currently searching for the owner of the animals and all other parties responsible. Meanwhile, investigators have been assigned to care for the creatures.
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