A Vietnamese man has been arrested and 58 protected birds, destined for another country, seized from a house in the Klong Chan area of Bangkok.
Hoang Ngoc Cuong, 36, was apprehended at a housing estate in Bang Kapi district on Friday. Police seized 58 red-whiskered bulbuls, known in Thai as nok parawd hua khoan and worth about 174,000 baht, said Pol Col Arun Wachirasrisukanya, deputy commander of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division.
The operation was the result of a follow-up investigation after a Jan 9 raid in which police arrested three Vietnamese members of a transnational wildlife trafficking network and seized 21 red-whiskered bulbuls, 929 turtles, four chameleons and six snakes.
The network normally smuggled wild animals by putting them in an international passenger bus to a neighbouring country, said Pol Col Arun.
Investigators subsequently found that the gang used a house in the Klong Chan area to keep wild animals before moving them out of Thailand.
The officers sought court approval to search the house, which led to the arrest of the Vietnamese man.
Mr Cuong confessed to having bought the red-whiskered bulbuls at 3,000 to 4,000 baht each from a seller who operated a Facebook page, said police. He kept the protected birds inside the house pending deliveries to a neighbouring country, where each bird could fetch tens of thousands of baht.
The arresting team initially charged him with possessing protected wild animals without permission, in violation of the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act.
Police take a photo with the Vietnamese suspect (second from left) and 58 red-whiskered bulbuls seized from him. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)