Police Bust International Smuggling Ring in Illegal Timber Operation

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchat Chomklin announced on July 10 that authorities had arrested a timber smuggling operation on the Asian Highway in Nakhon Sawan province while the convoy was en route to Bangkok. He ordered Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Director-General Arthapol Jarachansai to escalate investigations to dismantle the international criminal network behind the illegal timber trade. Suchat stressed maximum enforcement and prosecution without exception to recover Thailand's forest resources.

Arthapol revealed that the arrest followed intelligence from Chaichanya Sriyang, chairman of the task force investigating cross-border timber trafficking. Officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants coordinated closely with the special investigation division (DSI) and the natural resources enforcement unit (DNRE). After extended surveillance, they confirmed the criminal gang illegally harvested valuable timber from protected forests and national reserves, processed it, and transported it via large trucks for resale. Once movement patterns were confirmed, authorities coordinated with highway police to set an ambush on the Asian Highway in Nakhon Sawan province, successfully intercepting the target vehicles.

Investigators arrested four suspects and seized a six-wheel truck registered in Tak province (used to haul the illegal logs) and a four-door pickup registered in Nong Khai (used for navigation and scouting checkpoints). All four suspects confessed that the timber had been illegally cut and transported from Mae Sot district in Tak province, destined for a warehouse in the central region for storage before laundering and export. The suspects and seized materials were handed over to Phu Khiao Police Station in Nakhon Sawan for processing and legal action. Authorities are conducting thorough investigations and will report progress to supervisors immediately.