BangkokPost-Sept 18
Protected wood worth more than 14 million baht has been seized during a raid led by national park authorities on a warehouse in Nong Khai, as part of a crackdown on a major transnational illegal logging network in the northeastern province bordering Laos. A team led by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) raided the warehouse of Chen Tai International Co in tambon Wat That of Muang district and seized the Pradu rosewood stored there, DNP chief Attapol Charoenchansa said on Thursday.
The warehouse, reportedly owned by foreign investors, had been under surveillance for months. The Department of Special Investigation and Nong Khai provincial authorities also took part in the raid. The raid was part of an extended investigation into a transnational timber trafficking network, which originated from a case in northern Thailand several months ago. The warehouse in Nong Khai contained 378 planks of illegally harvested Pradu, also known as Burmese rosewood — cut from protected and reserved forests — amounting to 32.55 cubic meters and weighing about 28 tons. According to the investigation, the network operated with a high level of sophistication. Small pickup trucks were used to extract timber from remote forests in the North before the wood was transported to the warehouse in the Northeast. Officials said the operation was financed by Chinese and Vietnamese investors. The timber was smuggled out of the country via 10-wheel trucks through Laos or exported through Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri province in shipping containers. Documents seized from the warehouse suggested that the network had exported timber to China and Vietnam — key markets for luxury furniture. The total volume of timber exported was estimated at 2,053 cubic meters, worth about 1.23 billion baht. Read more at: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3106784/transnational-illegal-logging-network-busted-in-nong-khai?tbref=hp.
