BANGKOK – Two Thais were caught in Udon Thani’s Nong Han district trying to smuggle 27 long-tailed macaques to Laos to be served up as exotic meals.

Initial investigations showed that police, acting on a tip from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division (NRECD), stopped the two men as they were driving on Highway 2096 in Udon Thani, 500km north of the capital Bangkok.

Officers then discovered 27 sedated long-tailed macaques that were tied up and stuffed inside mesh bags. One had already died.

The two men were handed over to the Nong Han police.

The 26 surviving monkeys were taken to the Khon Kaen wildlife sanctuary and would afterwards be released back into the wild.

Police Major-General Watcharin Phusit, the NRECD commander, said the NRECD received a tip-off that a gang was attempting to smuggle macaques from Thailand’s central and southern regions to sell to restaurants in Laos.

The NRECD has already foiled two earlier attempts to smuggle macaques into Laos so far in 2023.

On March 6, the NRECD and Highway Police arrested two men trying to smuggle 47 macaques into Laos.

Then on April 25, another suspect was nabbed with 44 macaques. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK