Vietnamese poachers recorded their kills of wild tigers in Thailand
New findings from a three-month investigation have revealed that professional gangs were dispatched across Thailand’s borders to target the Kingdom’s wild tigers.
Freeland, a Bangkok-based
international non-governmental organisation working in Asia on
environmental conservation and human rights, on Tuesday congratulated
Thai authorities for making this discovery and already arresting one of
the gangs.
The investigation was initiated after the successful arrest of two
Vietnamese men by Thai police in late October following a tip-off from a
Thai driver-for-hire.
The driver had been travelling between the west-central towns of Tak and
Phitsanulok when he considered the baggage belonging to two foreign
customers to be suspicious, so he called the police.
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Thai police inspect the remains of a poached tiger
They arrested the owners of the bag, took the suspects and the tiger
remains to Nakhon Sawan police station, and inspected the suspects'
belongings, including their phones.
Police then contacted Freeland for analytical assistance.
The NGO’s forensics experts were dispatched to the scene and provided on-the-job training.
Using Cellebrite digital forensics technology, police found evidence
that the poachers, originating from Vietnam, had crossed Laos into
Thailand for targeted hunting in the Kingdom's forests.
The poachers documented their trips on their phones, including tiger kills.
Freeland believes the poachers were working on assignment from a Vietnamese criminal syndicate.
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“We do not think this was the poachers’ first time in
Thailand, and we
have reason to believe they were planning to strike again,” said
Sangchai, director of Freeland-Thailand.
Following the discovery of the gang and the poached tiger, Thai rangers were put on high alert.
“This gang has been removed as a threat, but we should be aware that
whoever employed them may dispatch more hunters to kill our country’s
tigers,” said Petcharat, adding, “Police, rangers and the public must
remain vigilant.”
Freeland is now trying to create an information exchange to suppress
cross-border poaching and trafficking, which it believes extends to the
criminal exploitation of rosewood trees.
Source - TheNation
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