BANGKOK, Thailand – Thai authorities have arrested a Cambodian national and a Thai man in an alleged international wildlife trafficking operation after undercover officers arranged to buy a protected rhinoceros hornbill in central Bangkok. The arrests were announced by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NED), Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation’s “Wild Hawk” team and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The suspects were identified as a 35-year-old Cambodian national and a 39-year-old Thai man.
Both were charged with jointly trading and possessing protected wildlife without permission under Thailand’s Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019). The Cambodian suspect also faces an immigration charge for remaining in Thailand after his permission to stay had expired.
Authorities seized two protected animals: one rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) and one gibbon.
The investigation followed a wider case involving the illegal trafficking of wildlife onto aircraft for sale in Taiwan and India. Investigators from NED Division 1 allegedly identified the Cambodian suspect as one of the main suppliers sourcing protected animals for foreign customers through online channels.
Officers then arranged an undercover purchase of a rhinoceros hornbill and agreed to meet the suspects at a PTT petrol station on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road in Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai district.
At the appointed time, the Cambodian and Thai suspects arrived together on a motorcycle, carrying a perforated cardboard box on the rear of the vehicle.
Officers identified themselves and searched the box. Inside, they found plastic cages containing a rhinoceros hornbill and a gibbon. Both suspects were taken into custody and the animals were seized as evidence. According to police, both men confessed to the charges during the initial arrest and interrogation stages.
They were handed over to investigators at NED Division 1 for further legal proceedings. The operation involved cooperation between Thai wildlife authorities, the Central Investigation Bureau and the US Fish and Wildlife Service as part of efforts to disrupt international trafficking networks dealing in protected wildlife.
