In two suitcases of passengers fit 109 species of animals.
Two Indian nationals were detained at a customs checkpoint at Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport in the capital. They were accused of trying to smuggle 109 wild animals out of the country in suitcases, Thai officials said.
Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said Monday that the animals were in the passengers' luggage and were found during an X-ray inspection.
Wildlife officials called to the scene determined that the women were trying to smuggle 35 turtles, 50 lizards, 20 snakes, as well as two armadillos and an equal number of white porcupines in two suitcases.
The luggage belonged to two Indian women, 24-year-old Zakia Sultana Ebrahim and 38-year-old Nithya Raja, who were preparing to fly to their home city of Chennai.
It is reported that the foreign women were charged with violating several Thai laws at once: the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2019, the Animal Disease Act of 2015, and the Customs Act of 2017.