NGO calls for tighter border controls to curb illegal trade

FILE - In this March 14, 2017, file photo, customs officers display seized rhino horns during a press conference at the Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok, Thailand. With wildlife trafficking escalating worldwide, some countries are starting to “follow the money” in an effort to track down the kingpins financing crime rings. The United Nations urged the world’s countries to adopt laws that allow wildlife crimes to be investigated by money laundering agents who can have assets seized. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

KUALA LUMPUR: TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, has called for tighter border controls as it hails the arrest of a major wildlife trafficker by Thai police.

The international organisation’s South-East Asia senior communications officer Elizabeth John, who described the arrest as significant, said authorities must crack down on the big players driving the illegal wildlife trade.