Twenty-five birds of rare species on an international conservation list were found in a suitcase destined for the Maldives at Suvarnabhumi airport on Tuesday.
The suitcase belonged to a Maldivian tourist who was preparing to board Bangkok Airways Flight PG711 for Male, the capital of the Maldives, said Prasert Sonsatapornkul, director of the wild animals and plants protection division under the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
The birds were detected when the suitcase was x-rayed by suspicious authorities at the wildlife checkpoint at the airport.
They included black kites, buffy fish owls and Malay eagle owls — all listed under the Convention on International in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and estimated to be worth about 100,000 baht in total.
Smuggling of the rare birds violates the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2019, the Animal Diseases Act of 2015 and the Customs Act.
A complaint was filed with Suvarnabhumi airport police for further legal action against the smuggler. The birds were being taken to a wildlife conservation office of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.