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Udgivet den 22/11/2013
Thai customs officials seized 122 pangolins, a scaly animal, on Friday morning (November 22) as they were being smuggled from Indonesia and Malaysia bound for China and Vietnam.

Several species of the mammal have been designated as endangered and any trade is banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Thai customs seized the pangolins at Prachuap Khiri Khan, a province about 300 kilometres (185 miles) southwest of Bangkok.

Thai customs officials said, pangolins are one of the most illegally trafficked mammals in Asia.

"If you're able to smuggle (the pangolins) out to Laos and into Vietnam or China, each one will cost no less than 20,000 Thai baht," said customs officer Paisal Cheunjit.

Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in China and their scales believed to hold medicinal properties.