Contraband frozen meat from Brazil the largest-ever seizure of its kind at Sadao checkpoint
SONGKHLA: Authorities have seized 30 tonnes of smuggled frozen pork from Brazil, worth about 6 million baht, in Sadao district of this southern province.
A combined team of customs officers and soldiers spotted a crew from a container truck, which had crossed the border from Kedah state in Malaysia, loading several boxes onto another truck in tambon Samnakkham in Sadao on Wednesday, said Yutthana Phoonphiphat, director of Customs Region 4.
When they inspected the boxes they found 30,000 kilogrammes in total of frozen pork, with no customs or related documents.
Mr Yutthana said the drivers were held for questioning. The investigation is being extended to find those involved in the smuggling of contraband meat.
It was the largest load of smuggled frozen pork ever seized at the Sadao checkpoint, he said. Previously, illegal frozen pork had mostly been found hidden in other products.
Yutthana Phoonphiphat, director of Customs Region 4, inspects some of the smuggled frozen pork seized in Sadao at a briefing on Thursday. (Photo: Assawin Pakkawan)