45 buffaloes abandoned by cross-border smugglers on Thai-Laos border
Border police try to intercept a gang of cross-border smugglers, who manage to flee leaving a herd of buffaloes stranded in Hueang River
A gang of animal smugglers left their herd of 45 buffaloes abandoned in the Hueang River on the Thai-Laos border after a face-off with local authorities on Thursday morning.
The 24th Border Patrol Police Command said it had received a tip-off that the smugglers were hiding on the river bank near Ban Na Jan village in Loei’s Pak Tom subdistrict. Intelligence reports had shown that they were smuggling animals into Thailand via the river.
At around 4.30am on Thursday, a six-wheel truck pulled up on the Laos side, when at least two men began offloading buffaloes into a makeshift pen near the river bank.
The police officers waited until 6.20am, when the truck had driven away, to confront the gang of men while they were herding the buffaloes across the river over to the Thai side.
Upon spotting the border police, three men of unknown origin reportedly began swimming back to the Laos side and quickly disappeared.
Officials were unable to identify the suspects due to the thick fog in the area.
The herd of 45 buffaloes, 13 male and 32 female, were later rounded up and removed from the river.
Police said they questioned villagers nearby but nobody has claimed ownership of the cattle. The animals were then transported to Chiang Khan Police Station for further investigation.
