Failure to curb smuggling
The "escape" of an accused animal trafficker does not only set back the attempt to combat cross-border crime, it also is a huge black eye for the country's reputation for corruption. It is nothing short of scandalous that authorities were unable to hold Noor Mahmood. The 36-year-old was arrested on May 13 at Suvarnabhumi Airport as he was about to leave on a flight home to the United Arab Emirates. His suitcases allegedly were stuffed with sedated, rare animals - four leopard cubs, a Sun bear, a gibbon, a marmoset and others. Being arrested, named and shamed in the media and forced to give up his passport turned out to be trivial inconveniences, because in little more than two weeks, Mr Mahmood was gone.
To call this an embarrassing setback is a major understatement. The arrested man was charged, taken to court and released on bail. The animals, all alive, were put in the care of Thai veterinarians. Then, in a matter of days, he left Thailand.
Authorities said he had managed to obtain his passport again. There was no notice at border posts including the international airports to alert immigration officials. In fact, by all events, it seems the departure of Mr Mahmood was no escape at all, but a plot to move him on.
For those who followed the case even in its last days, the ease of the man's departure was not entirely surprising. The week after he was arrested at Suvarnabhumi, the Central Investigation Bureau took over the case. Pol Col Kittipong Khawsamang, a deputy CIB chief who handles environmental crimes, told the media that "a politician" had been meddling in the case. Specifically, said the police officer, this politician - so far unnamed in any public report - had demanded that the arresting officers at Racha Thewa police station return Mr Mahmood's passport. Racha Thewa was assigned the case because Suvarnabhumi falls under its jurisdiction.
The involvement of a politician in a cross-border criminal case involving both big money and the environment should have set off alarm bells. Mr Mahmood's arrest was no random event. The Emirates citizen had been followed for days by a foreign NGO, Freeland.
The group allegedly saw Mr Mahmood obtain the animals, and shadowed him to Suvarnabhumi, where officers were alerted to make the arrest. Freeland's days of tireless work succeeded in saving the animals, but the flight of Mr Mahmood raises major questions.
Top government officials have shown no interest in the case, despite the damage to the country's image and the obvious corruption involved somewhere in the arrest, prosecution and court case against Mr Mahmood.
According to statements by police and Freeland, Mr Mahmood had come to the attention of authorities before his activities last month in Bangkok.
They believe that the Emirates man was an influential cog in a top animal-smuggling operation. The demand for rare and exotic animals is high around the world. Collectors and self-described gourmets pay prices for smuggled animals that easily top those paid for drugs. Charges that a corrupt politician would be involved at the Thai end of an operation to ensure smooth criminal activities are not at all surprising.
The cross-border trafficking of humans, drugs and rare animals is an offence against all civilised societies. Authorities may choose to try to sweep the Mahmood case under the rug, in the hope that everyone will forget the offence to the rule of law.
It would be better to track down the crooks who aided Mr Mahmood in his endeavours and escape.
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