from New Straits Times
Thai police rescued two baby orangutans in a sting operation after undercover officers arranged to buy the primates over a mobile phone messaging app from wildlife traffickers for nearly $20,000, officials said.
An anonymous tip alerted police to an online advertisement for the endangered animals, who are less than one year old and the size of infants.
Police then posed as interested buyers and contacted the seller over WhatsApp, according to deputy national park director Adisorn Noochdumrong.
“They agreed to buy the two orangutans for 700,000 baht ($19,400) and transferred a 100,000 baht down payment to a bank account that belongs to a Thai man,” he told AFP.
The undercover officers arranged to pick up the baby apes outside a Bangkok supermarket on December 21, where the orange-furred creatures were delivered by a city taxi driver.
This excerpt from a news article appeared in and is courtesy of New Straits Times and can be read in its entirety here.
