Siamese rosewood logs and bicycles seized but smugglers flee after Surin stake-out
A recent stake-out in an attempt to suppress the smuggling of Siamese rosewood in the northeastern border province of Surin resulted in the interception of 12 logs along with two bicycles, Huay Tab Tan-Huay Sam Rarn Wildlife Sanctuary head Wutthikul Ngampanya said on Tuesday.
However, the smugglers managed to escape capture.
The authorities had received a tip-off about a gang using bicycles to transport rosewood logs across the border for delivery to Cambodian investors via the Chong Kaban Samor area in Tambon Charas, in Surin’s Buachet district.
Sanctuary officials along with police and Army officers subsequently conducted a stake-out during wee hours of Monday morning, Wutthikul said.
They spotted four headlights moving along the path at 3.20am as a group of men pushed two bicycles loaded with the logs, and presented themselves to arrest them.
However, the smugglers fled quickly into the darkness, leaving behind the bicycles and 12 logs, which officials forwarded to Buachet police for further investigation, the sanctuary chief explained.