The Ministry of Agriculture seized over 2,000 kilograms of premium meat smuggled from France at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The meat was disguised as seafood products and was intended for delivery to hotel restaurants.
On 25 Oct 2026 GMT+7, Mr. Sarawut Nueangjamnong, Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives and Commander of the Agricultural and Food Security Joint Operations Center (Phra Pirun Center), said he received a tip-off about a well-known premium meat importing company illegally bringing in premium meat and products that had not undergone disease or hygiene inspections and lacked import permission from the Department of Livestock Development under the Animal Epidemic Act B.E. 2558 (2015). These products were being sold primarily to high-end restaurants and hotel establishments in Thailand. He ordered the Department of Livestock Development to coordinate with Customs officials to investigate. They discovered numerous animal carcasses imported via airline at the Suvarnabhumi Airport cargo warehouse, originating from France, mixed with seafood and other agricultural products—contrary to the permitted declaration for seafood only. This violated Section 31 of the Animal Epidemic Act and the Customs Act. The seized items included salted marinated beef, wild boar meat, wild boar liver, smoked pork cheeks, smoked turkey breast, chilled quail, pigeon carcasses, duck meat, chicken breast, duck breast, duck legs, lamb loin with bone, canned beef ham, salami, and Parma ham—totaling over 2,000 kilograms with a value of 1,201,851 baht. Due to the risk of disease spread via these carcasses, samples were sent to the laboratory for testing, and the goods were seized for destruction. Legal proceedings against the smuggling company are underway.
Mr. Sarawut explained that illegal movement of animal carcasses from abroad or domestically without proper permits is a cause of serious infectious disease outbreaks in animals and zoonotic diseases that can affect humans. These include foot-and-mouth disease, lumpy skin disease, and African swine fever, which damage the domestic livestock industry, threaten consumer safety, and unfairly disrupt market mechanisms. He ordered all animal quarantine checkpoints to strictly enforce laws against illegal importation of animal carcasses into the kingdom to ensure consumers receive safe, quality livestock products. If anyone observes violations related to livestock, they can report via the DLD 4.0 application, and the Department of Livestock Development will promptly act on the information.
