Police arrested six suspects with more than 1,000 radiated tortoises and lemurs in the southern province of Chumphon. The seized animals were destined for Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.
Pol Maj Gen Wacharin Pusit, commander of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division, said on Thursday that four men and two women were arrested with six pickup trucks carrying 1,076 radiated tortoises and 48 lemurs at a hotel in tambon Khun Krathing of Muang district, Chumphon, at 2am on Wednesday.
"It is the largest seizure of wildlife made in a single arrest," he said.
The suspects, identified as Pichitpol Sriduangmaneechai, 31, Jitrin Pumalee, 39, Ong-art Sriduangmaneechai, 29, Weeriya-on Pumalee, 39, Thaweepong Jampatong, 43, and Juthamas Jitjaeng, 33, denied all charges.
Some of the seized radiated tortoises.
According to the commander, the wild animals were sourced from Madagascar and smuggled into the southern province of Satun through Sumatra. The smugglers were members of a global wildlife trafficking network.
If the animals had not been intercepted in Chumphon, they would have been transported to Bangkok and then smuggled to Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, he said.
In some countries, people believed that radiated tortoises were auspicious animals. In Thailand, a radiated tortoise might cost 100,000 baht, but the price could soar to 1 million baht in Hong Kong, he added.
Over 40 lemurs were found during the arrest in Chumphon.