Bangkok (AFP) – Nawee Changpirom has spent years working to rescue trafficked wildlife in Thailand, but even he can sometimes hardly believe the creatures he has found: leopards, hornbills, and once an anteater.
Issued on: 10/09/2026 - 04:04Modified: 10/09/2026 - 04:17
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"We even found living corals hidden in a ceiling," he told AFP.Nawee heads a raid unit in the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) that tries to stop the sale of everything from African elephant ivory to monkeys wanted as pets or for laboratory testing.Alongside weapons, drugs and human trafficking, the illegal wildlife trade is among the most widespread and profitable forms of organised crime globally, run by cross-border cartels.
A hornbill that was intercepted by the Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit at the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) headquarters in Bangkok © Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
