Overview
- Airport officers detained a 19-year-old Taiwanese traveler at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport after noticing suspicious movements early Tuesday as she prepared to fly to Taipei.
- A search found 30 Indian star tortoises strapped to her body, with 29 alive and one dead, bound with tape and packed in cloth bags.
- Police charged her with illegal wildlife transport and customs evasion, and she remains in custody as investigators look for a wider smuggling network.
- The surviving tortoises were handed to wildlife officers for care and will be kept as evidence.
- Thai customs said the CITES-protected species can fetch high prices, estimating the haul at about $9,000, and the IUCN lists the tortoise as vulnerable.