Rare creatures including 6 crocodiles found in man’s luggage in Thailand airport
A 52-year-old man is accused of trying to smuggle rare creatures through a Thailand airport after security discovered a foam box full of animals, according to an April 4 Facebook post and April 5 news release from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
The man, an Uzbekistan national, was traveling out of the Suvarnabhumi Airport heading to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, officials said.
He was carrying with him 21 foam boxes, which were deemed suspicious by security and searched at an airport checkpoint, according to the post.
The first 20 boxes were filled with aquatic plants and animals, officials said, and were accompanied by the appropriate export documentation.
The last box, however, was filled with something else.
Inside the box were plastic containers tightly packed with live animals, officials said.
Three plastic containers were holding 10 iguanas, according to the post. Another three containers were packed with six freshwater crocodiles. The last container held five horned frogs.
Although the iguanas and frogs are not rare species, freshwater crocodiles from Thailand are not only rare, but critically endangered.
Freshwater crocodiles, also called Siamese crocodiles, are medium-sized and native to Southeast Asia, according to Thai National Parks.
The animals in the last box did not have documentation on their export, and the 52-year-old was taken into custody.
He is charged with attempting to export protected and regulated wildlife without permission, exporting animals from the kingdom without a permit and attempting to export aquatic animals without authorization, officials said.
The animals were confiscated and given to multiple wildlife agencies for care, according to the post.
Suvarnabhumi Airport is located in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.
ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, and Google Translate were used to translate the Facebook post and news release from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, respectively.
This story was originally published April 7, 2025 at 8:12 AM with the headline "Rare creatures including 6 crocodiles found in man’s luggage in Thailand airport."
