BANGKOK: Thai police have arrested a man suspected of smuggling two baby orangutans into the kingdom, they said Thursday, in a case linked to an international wildlife trafficking network.
The 47-year-old suspect was detained on Wednesday evening at a petrol station in a residential district of Bangkok while preparing to hand over the animals to a customer, police said in a statement.
Two infant orangutans -- one about a year old, the other just one month -- were found in a plastic basket wearing diapers, with a feeding bottle beside them, according to photos released by police.
The arrest followed a joint investigation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Orangutans, native to Borneo and Sumatra, are classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and protected under the CITES treaty, and are among the most trafficked primates in the world.
Thai police said the apes were believed to have been sold for around 300,000 baht each ($8,900).
The man was charged with "illegal possession of protected wildlife" under Thai law and faces up to four years in prison.
The orangutans, named Christopher and Stefan, were handed over to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation for health checks and care to help "rehabilitate their condition."
Police said the suspect admitted he was hired to deliver the animals, but did not disclose the payment amount.
"We are investigating the larger network," Kasidach Charoenlap, a police officer with the Central Investigation Bureau, who was part of the investigation told AFP.
Thailand is a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers, who often sell highly prized endangered creatures on the lucrative black market in China, Vietnam and Taiwan.