The 47-year-old was arrested at a gas station near Bangkok on Wednesday. Two small orangutans were found in a laundry basket, one of them around a year old and the other just a month old. The apes wore diapers and in the plastic basket lay pacifiers, according to pictures released by the police.
The man was caught when he was about to hand over the two orangutans to a customer. According to Thai police, they would likely be sold for around 300,000 baht each, equivalent to approximately 87,000 kronor.
The case is linked to an international network for illegal animal trafficking. Many of the animals are said to end up on the lucrative black market in China, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
Orangutans, who live on Borneo and Sumatra, are classified as critically endangered. The two found cubs have been named Christopher and Stefan and will now undergo rehabilitation.
