Straits Times 18 Feb 11;
BANGKOK: A man believed to be one of Thailand's most prolific lizard poachers was arrested with hundreds of water monitors destined for Chinese dinner plates, the authorities said yesterday.
More than 200 reptiles were discovered in water-filled tanks in Mr Boonlue Prasitsom's warehouse in Ang Thong province, central Thailand, during a raid by the Thai nature crime police.
'At first, we didn't expect to find so many lizards, but it turned out to be a lot,' said Inspector Kiattisak Bamrungsawat, deputy commander of the wildlife force. He added that Mr Boonlue was believed to be planning to smuggle the creatures through Laos into China.
The arrest is part of a crackdown on lizard smuggling as Thailand struggles to stem the flow of protected species through its borders.
Conservation group Freeland Foundation said the raid was an important step in an investigation into a criminal network, which the authorities believe is behind the trafficking of a large number of threatened wildlife into China.
'Freeland congratulates the Thai nature crime police for acting swiftly and professionally on a tip-off... while freeing hundreds of wild animals,' said organisation director Steven Galster.
Mr Boonlue had allegedly been poaching lizards from the wild for more than 10 years, the organisation said. He faces a maximum of four years in prison and a 40,000 baht (S$1,670) fine.
Monitor lizards are a common sight in Thailand's waterways, and police said the protected species is poached for export, mainly to China and Vietnam, where it is prized for its meat.
Freeland said both countries are major consumers of South-east Asia's protected reptiles, and the region is a source of wildlife for traffickers supplying a global market.
Thailand is among several countries in the region coming down hard on wildlife smuggling syndicates. Malaysia also passed its Wildlife Conservation Act last August, under which higher fines and stiffer jail sentences for illegal wildlife hunting and trade will be meted out to offenders.
Enforcement raids by the Indonesian authorities have also resulted in the breaking up of one of the country's largest illegal wildlife smuggling operations, according to wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
