A recent crackdown on unlawful livestock smuggling led Thai authorities to intercept a convoy of 5 vehicles, arresting five people and seizing 30 cattle. The incident occurred on the Thai-Myanmar border in Tak province, highlighting ongoing efforts to curb the spread of foot-and-mouth illness.
The Director-General of the Department of Livestock Development, Dr Somchuan Ratanamankalanon, acknowledged that on May twenty fifth, officers from Tak’s Animal Quarantine Station apprehended the smugglers as a part of an ongoing operation to curb unlawful livestock imports. The cattle had been found because the smugglers tried to transport them via Tha Song Yang district earlier than they could enter Mae Rim Village in Omkoi district, Chiang Mai province.
Two checkpoints were set as a lot as halt the smuggling operation, with officers efficiently stopping the vehicles on Highway 1267 in Tha Song Yang. The smugglers claimed they had been moving the cattle from Mae Salid Village to Mae Mueang Village, each in Tha Song Yang district.
When Key requested an animal transportation permit (R.3) from the drivers, they may not produce any documentation. As a end result, the smugglers were apprehended underneath Section 22 of the 2015 Animal Epidemic Act, which prohibits the illegal transportation of animals because of Tak province being a designated surveillance space for foot-and-mouth illness in cattle, buffalo, pigs, goats, and sheep. Violators face a most penalty of two years imprisonment, a nice of as a lot as 40,000 baht (US$1,240), or both..