A man was arrested at Thailand’s main airport for smuggling iguanas, white pythons, monitor lizards, marmoset monkeys, a raccoon and a white desert fox, officials said Wednesday.
The animals were found in plastic bags in the man’s luggage, Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said in a statement. Veterinarians examined the rescued animals.
The man was on his way to Chennai from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport. Thailand is a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers who often sell wildlife animals to Vietnam and China. But recently, officials have seen an increase in animal trafficking to India.
Officials didn’t know where the animals came from. “We can’t find microchips on these animals, so we do not know where they come from,” Prasert Sonsatapornkul, a division director at the conservation department, said.
