The amount of smuggled pork seized this year soared by 10-fold from the total last year due to high local pork prices, according to the Customs Department.
Patchara Anuntasilpa, director-general of the department, said that this year customs officials have seized 4.7 million tonnes of smuggled pork, almost 10 times the 480,000 tonnes of smuggled pork his department impounded throughout last year.
The department intensified its inspections of all frozen imports over recent months because their recorded amount was unusually high this year. The increased searches found quantities of smuggled pork which was falsely declared as frozen fish, he said.
"In 2022 and 2023 local pork has been very expensive, more than 200 baht per kilogramme. The high prices prompt groups of people to source pork from Europe and South America for sales in Thailand," Mr Patchara said.
The Customs Department suspended the licences of shipping agents involved in pork smuggling and was coordinating the disposal of smuggled pork with the Livestock Development Department, he said.