PATTAYA, Thailand – Thai authorities arrested a 36-year-old Vietnamese man at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday after an X-ray scan revealed six rhinoceros horns weighing 11.75 kilograms concealed in a foam crate.
The suspect, traveling from the Democratic Republic of the Congo via Ethiopia, was intercepted during a layover before his scheduled flight to Vientiane, Laos. To evade detection, the horns were wrapped in 12 kilograms of animal hide.
The suspect now faces multiple charges, including violations of the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act and the Customs Act, after failing to produce legal permits.
Officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) have handed the suspect over to Suvarnabhumi Airport Police and sent the contraband to the Wildlife Forensic Center for species verification.
Authorities emphasized that this seizure is part of a broader crackdown on transnational wildlife trafficking networks using Thailand as a transit hub. (TNA)
