Smuggler arrested with more than 200 wild animals

SA KAEO, May 26 (TNA) -- Paramilitary rangers arrested a man in Sa Kaeo province on Thursday for allegedly trying to smuggle to Cambodia more than 200 animals including tortoises, water monitors and cobras. Weerawat Wichaiprajak, a 25-year-old Sa Kaeo native, was arrested on a white Isuzu pickup truck registered in Sa Kaeo after trying to escape from a checkpoint on Fak Huay-Khao Noi Si Chomphu, a border road in Aranyaprathet district leading to the Thai-Cambodian border. Paramilitary rangers found many protected wild animals in sacks, bags and crates on the truck’s tray. The man did not have a permit for the transport of the wild animals. He was then brought to the 12th Paramilitary Ranger Regiment in Aranyaprathet for interrogation. Officials found on the truck 153 tortoises, 104 water monitors and 10 big cobras. Some of the animals died as they were piled up on one another. Mr Weerawat said he was hired 1,000 baht to drive the truck from Kabin Buri district of Prachin Buri and hand the vehicle over to another man at a location in Sa Kaeo. Authorities believed that he was trying to supply the animals to wildlife restaurants in Cambodia. (TNA)