Bangkok: Thai police seized more than 135 kilograms of ivory tusks worth 181,250 USD (5.8 million baht) which had arrived from Africa. A Malaysian man has been arrested by Thai police for allegedly being behind an international illegal ivory trade network.
According to Reuters, Teo Boon Ching, 51, was arrested on Thursday after Thai police seized 51 pieces of African ivory weighing about 135kg on Dec 31 last year in northeast Thailand. The ivory was valued at about 5.8mil baht (RM658,500).Thai police said Teo, who was arrested alongside his Thai partner Sirichai Sridanont, 50, was accused of trading and smuggling African ivory through Thailand’s southern border.
Teo, who was also seemingly paraded by Thai police in Bangkok yesterday, was said to have made “frequent visits” to Thailand, Kenya and other African countries.
Natural Resources and Environment Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr James Dawos Mamit told parliament on Thursday that the Government was thinking of coming up with stronger penalties for those caught smuggling endangered animal trophies.
