BANGKOK – Thai customs officials say they have seized more than 100 live pangolins and 450 kilograms (990 pounds) of scales from the endangered animal.
Customs Department Director-General Kulit Sombatsiri said the illegal wildlife material was seized Wednesday from two pickup trucks after the authorities received a tipoff that it had been smuggled from Malaysia.
Pangolin scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine and contain keratin, a protein also found in rhino horn. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in Vietnam and some parts of China.
A U.N. wildlife conference last year approved a ban on trade in all eight species of Asian and African pangolins.
Kulit said his department has seized more than 2.9 tons of pangolin-related items this year worth more than 29 million baht ($870,000).
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