The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation raided a warehouse in Lam Luk Ka, seizing over 120,000 gecko carcasses and nearly 30 tons of protected timber prepared for export to China. The police investigation expanded from a covered van seized in Chumphon, unraveling a wildlife and illegal timber trafficking network.
On 6 Mar 2025 GMT+7, Police Major General Anek Taosupap, Commander of the Department of National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), ordered Police Colonel Apisan Chairat, Chief of Division 5, and Police Lieutenant Colonel Pathompong Thongjamroon, Deputy Chief of Division 5, to lead officers with a search warrant from Thanyaburi Provincial Court to inspect a warehouse in Lam Luk Ka District, Pathum Thani Province, after investigations suggested it was storing large quantities of wildlife carcasses and protected timber.
This operation stemmed from a joint arrest in October 2025 GMT+7 by Division 5 officers and Chumphon highway police, who stopped a suspicious covered pickup truck containing 70 boxes of dried gecko carcasses weighing over 700 kilograms, about 21,000 geckos. Continued investigation revealed many more gecko carcasses were hidden in a warehouse in Lam Luk Ka District, Pathum Thani Province, prompting authorities to gather evidence and obtain a search warrant.
During the warehouse search, officers found vast quantities of evidence: dried gecko carcasses packed in cardboard boxes, each holding about 300 geckos and weighing roughly 10 kilograms, totaling 414 boxes and approximately 4,140 kilograms—about 124,200 gecko carcasses. They also found fragrant rosewood and Payung wood scraps packed in 498 sacks, each about 40 kilograms, totaling 19,920 kilograms (nearly 20 tons), plus finely ground fragrant rosewood and Payung wood in 210 sacks of similar weight, totaling 8,400 kilograms (about 8 tons).
Officials initially stated that fragrant rosewood and Payung wood are protected species. Without proper documentation proving legal origin, possession constitutes a violation of the Forestry Act.
Investigation revealed that Ms. Rung and Mr. Game, siblings, rented the warehouse. They said they had leased the site for about four years to store goods awaiting export. Around August 2025 GMT+7, a customer informed them that dried gecko carcasses from Satun Province would be delivered to the warehouse for Ms. Rung to ship to China, though no shipments had yet occurred. The fragrant rosewood and Payung wood scraps were also stored awaiting export. Authorities charged them with importing and possessing protected wildlife without permission, violating the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019). The timber's source and documents remain under further investigation.
Before taking Ms. Rung and Mr. Game into custody, authorities seized all evidence and handed it over to investigators at Division 5, DNP, to proceed with legal action and to continue tracing the associated trafficking network.