Thai authorities have been investigating his family for years. Thai authorities seized 326 pounds worth of full elephant tusks and fragments originating from Nigeria and destined for China, worth over $469,800. Thai authorities also had frozen $37 million in assets linked to the trafficking of tigers in the northeast of Thailand. In 2016, authorities seized bank accounts and assets of a Thai national who was convicted of trafficking rhino horns in South Africa. Days before Boonchai’s arrest, Thai authorities seized 326 pounds of African elephant ivory, including three large tusks, worth around $469,800 from a Bangkok airport.

Source: Washington Post January 20, 2018 23:27 UTC