NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: Police arrested a man and his wife at their house on Friday on charges of possessing protected animals including snakes and doves without authorisation and selling them online.
Officers from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division detained Thossaporn Rattanakot, 29, and Natthakarn Prappairee, 26, at their house in Thung Song district.
Police also seized rare animals including sunbeam snakes and grey-capped emerald doves.
The couple were wanted on an arrest warrant for selling protected animals in violation of the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act, under the Facebook name N’Sayrung ka M’Nat, according to Pol Col Apisan Chaiyarat, chief of sub-division 5.
He said investigators had tracked them after spotting the pair posting messages using their Facebook name on a Facebook account created for lovers of rare animals.
A police officer then posed as a customer to contact them, setting the stage for their arrest when they responded.
Pol Col Apisan said the pair had sold the animals by mail to clients who lived in Thailand and abroad including the United States, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, Belgium and Indonesia.
The couple confessed to the charge when they were brought to the Kapang police station, he added.