Police have seized a total of 4,546 illegally smuggled turtles and tortoises at a checkpoint near the Thai-Myanmar border in Tak Province, Mae Sot district.
Hidden among luggage in a suspect van were four boxes glued shut but poked with air holes. Police cracked them open to find sacks full of turtle hatchlings.
The turtles included 75 common snapping turtles, 586 Indian roofed turtles and 3,885 red-eared sliders.
Both red-eared sliders and Indian roofed turtles are common pets, although the sliders are a known invasive species. The turtles were found in a weakened state from being crowded together.
Also in the boxes were bags filled with water containing 35 living snakehead murrel fish.
Police had been tipped off that animals would be smuggled in from Myanmar. Sanchai Tongkapurana, 44, has been apprehended for further questioning.
Turtles in Thailand are often smuggled to be sold either as pets or for dubious merit-making.
