Man expected registration of Suvarnabhumi International Airport for a flight to Dubai when he was arrested by undercover officers in the fight against trafficking. Agents had followed him since he made the purchase black market animal.
The 36-year-old male has not been identified, only that he was a citizen of the United Emirates Arab.
Inside of his luggage were two leopards, two panthers, two macaque monkeys and an Asiatic black bear.
Animals, about the size of the puppies, were drugged and placed in cages flat or cans with air holes.
"It was a very sophisticated smuggling operation. "We have never seen such a forward", Steven Galster, Director of the group to fight against trafficking in FREELAND Foundation, told the Associated Press. "The guy had a virtual zoo in his suitcases."
The panthers and leopards can go for about $5,000 on the black market in Thailand. But, they would have probably sold to Dubai and more.
"It was not a normal smuggler," said Galster in a video of the AP. "It has been verified in first class, seems to have special links and has already been released on bail."
It is unclear if the animals were to be sold or kept as exotic pets.
The Thailand is a popular place for wildlife smuggling. Generally it's turtles, rare turtles, snakes and lizards bound for the Viet Nam and China.
Just in last February, a man was arrested at the same airport with plenty of illegal animals of bags. Last August a baby tiger cub was found in stuffed animals in a suitcase. In July 2010, a man was caught trying to smuggling of apes in his clothes at the airport of Mexico City.
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