World

Thai officials seize 600 smuggled deadly cobras

November 13, 2012 / 10:39 AM EST / AP

BANGKOK Thai authorities have seized a pickup truck full of deadly cobras at a checkpoint in the country's central region.

They believe the snakes came from Malaysia and were destined for a third country for use in traditional medicine or human consumption.

Thai Customs chief Benja Louicharoen said Tuesday that officials found 600 cobras worth about 500,000 baht ($16,500) in mesh bags inside plastic baskets in the truck.

Officials arrested the Thai driver after the suspicious vehicle was stopped 130 miles south of Bangkok.

At a press conference in Bangkok an official shows one of 600 cobras seized by the Thai Customs Department, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

Benja said the man confessed that he was delivering the snakes to northeast Thailand where they were to be smuggled over the border into Laos.

Thailand is a major transit country for illegal wildlife trafficking in Asia.