AP/ September 10, 2012, 12:16 PM

Thai man accused of illegally raising tigers on roof

Two tiger cubs are chained and kept in an enclosure on the rooftop of the apartment building in Pathum Thani proivince, central Thailand on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012. / AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong

(AP) PATHUM THANI, Thailand - A Thai man has been arrested and accused of illegally raising six tigers on top of an apartment building on Bangkok's outskirts after police busted a larger tiger-trafficking ring in the country.

Environmental police acting on a tip found four adult and two juvenile tigers on a rusty caged compound on the rooftop of a four-story apartment in a residential neighborhood in Pathum Thani province Monday.

A tiger looks out from its enclosure on the rooftop of an apartment building in Pathumthani province, central Thailand Monday, Sept. 10, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong

Police say the apartment's caretaker told them he owned the animals but was authorized to raise only two of them; 28-year-old Surasak Bunthienthong has been initially charged with illegal possession of protected wild animals.

Police Lt. Col. Adtapon Sudsai said an investigation showed the apartment was a transit spot for tiger trading in Thailand, where tigers are illegally sold for skin, fangs and organs.

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