Thai man arrested for smuggling dinosaur fossils

Police acting on a tip from U.S. officials arrested a man trying to sell dinosaur fossils at least 100 million years old and valuable antiques over the Internet, Thai police said Friday.

Undercover police arrested Piriya Wachachitphan, 25, and confiscated 108 large dinosaur fossils and five boxes containing smaller pieces from his home in Bangkok, police Lt. Gen. Thani Somboonsab said.

“It is the first time that police have arrested a smuggler of dinosaur fossils in Thailand,” he said.

Since 1999, Piriya sold more than 1,000 cultural artifacts, including Buddha images, worth more than $200,000, police said.

At a news conference announcing the arrest, Mark Robinson, a Bangkok-based official for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, described the arrest as “quite significant.”

“Usually we found people selling one or two pieces. We have not discovered an individual that had thousands of stolen pieces over the course of seven years,” he said.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Police said Piriya told them the dinosaur fossils were purchased from villagers in the northeastern provinces of Kalasin and Khon Kaen, an area of growing archaeological importance.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Thai and U.S. police cooperated on the case for eight months after American authorities seized illegally traded stolen artifacts exported from Thailand, Robinson said. Some items originated in Cambodia, which has seem rampant plundering of its cultural heritage during the past few decades.

Robinson said the U.S. Cyber Smuggling Center in Washington worked closely with Internet companies to stop the trading of illegal items through Web sites.

The trade of ancient artifacts is illegal in Thailand and carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of $18,248. Piriya was freed on bail pending trial.