On Tuesday, November 20, two Thai men were arrested in Chaiyaphum, Thailand after police discovered over 100 live pangolins in the back of two Toyota SUVs heading towards Nong Khai.
With the intent of smuggling 105 pangolins across the border to Laos, Pramote Kerdlamool, 32, and Payao Supsinthu, 38 were placed under arrest at a road checkpoint in Chaiyaphum’s Kon Sawan district
on Tuesday morning. The 105 pangolins had a combined total weight of more than 1,000 kilograms.
During questioning, both men confessed that the pangolins were purchased from the Lad Lum Kaew district in Thailand, and were being transported to Laos where they would be sold and trafficked on the wildlife black market fetching a huge profit for the duo.
According to the Pangolin Wikipedia page, pangolins were added to the Zoological Society of London’s list of genetically distinct and endangered mammals in November, 2010. All eight species of pangolin are classified by the IUCN as threatened with extinction, while two are classified as critically endangered.
Source: The Nation
