What happens when a routine border patrol suddenly uncovers a car packed with 81 terrified macaques?
For Thai rangers near the Cambodian border, it turned into yet another glimpse into the region’s booming illegal wildlife trade.
Authorities said the vehicle was stopped Friday afternoon in Sa Kaeo province, where officers found the monkeys crammed inside a blue net bag.
Two men in the car were immediately arrested.
According to the 12th Ranger Forces Regiment, the suspects didn’t take long to talk.
ChatGPT said:
They admitted they were part of a cross-border smuggling operation moving macaques from Thailand into Cambodia.
Wildlife Crime Escalates
It is a profitable route feeding black-market demand in China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.
As if the wildlife haul wasn’t troubling enough, soldiers also discovered meth pills and crystal meth in the vehicle.
“The men are now facing charges under wildlife-protection and narcotics laws,” the regiment posted on Facebook.
Thailand has long been a major transit point for the region’s wildlife underworld.
Just last year, officials returned nearly 1,000 endangered lemurs and tortoises to Madagascar after a landmark trafficking bust.
And in May, police caught a man trying to smuggle two baby orangutans into the country.
It’s a reminder that in the world of wildlife crime, the stakes — and the cruelty — never seem to slow down.
