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Thai man arrested for smuggling dinosaur fossils
The Star (Malaysia) ^ | Friday, February 25, 2005

Posted on 02/25/2005 11:26:52 AM PST by nickcarraway

BANGKOK, Thailand: A Thai man who offered dinosaur fossils and valuable antiques for sale on the Internet has been arrested for illegally trading in ancient artifacts and art, police said Friday.

Acting on a tip-off from U.S. authorities, undercover police arrested Piriya Wachachitphan, 25, on Monday and confiscated 108 large dinosaur fossils and five boxes containing smaller pieces from his home in Bangkok, said police Lt. Gen. Thani Somboonsab.

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

Police said Piriya had also sold more than 1,000 cultural artifacts, including Buddha statues, worth more than US$200,000 (euro150,000). He was free on bail pending trial.

If found guilty of trading in ancient artifacts, Piriya faces a maximum seven years in jail and a fine of up to 700,000 baht (US$18,000; euro13,500).

At a news conference announcing the arrest, Mark Robinson, a Bangkok-based official from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, describes the arrest as "quite significant.''

"Usually we find people selling one or two pieces,'' he said.

Thai and U.S. police had been cooperating for eight months on the case since American authorities seized stolen antiques exported from Thailand, said Robinson. Some of the items originated in Cambodia, where rampant plundering of cultural artifacts has been going on for decades.

Police said Piriya told them the dinosaur fossils, over 100 million years old, were purchased from villagers in the northeastern provinces of Kalasin and Khon Kaen, an area of growing archaeological importance.--


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: dinosaurs; fossils; smuggling; thailand

1 posted on 02/25/2005 11:26:57 AM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

"At a news conference announcing the arrest, Mark Robinson, a Bangkok-based official from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, describes the arrest as "quite significant.'' "

Unless there were nuclear secrets etched in code on these fossils, I have no idea why the Dept. of Homeland Security is at all involved in this. Kind of frightening if they can step into any investigation such as this. If someone is illegally using US trade, wouldn't that be a matter for the FBI?


2 posted on 02/25/2005 11:33:51 AM PST by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (Liberals are blind. They are the dupes of Leftists who know exactly what they're doing.)
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe

I can't believe its against the law to find an old bone in the dirt no be able to sell it. Anything else we find we can keep, what the heck is Homeland Security involved for?


3 posted on 02/25/2005 11:41:59 AM PST by Abathar (Proudly catching hell for not reading the whole article since 1999)
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To: nickcarraway; Hap; Xenalyte
Excuse me is that a brontosaurus femur in your pants or are you just happy to see me? :)
4 posted on 02/25/2005 11:56:20 AM PST by Bacon Man (Did you mean for those all words to come out together or did they just fall out randomly?)
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To: nickcarraway
"Thai man arrested for smuggling dinosaur fossils"


5 posted on 02/25/2005 12:14:15 PM PST by Jaxter ("Vivit Post Funera Virtus")
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To: Bacon Man

Reminds me of the flintstones... Anyway the Homeland security has got to have better things to do than harass bone collectors, sheesh.


6 posted on 02/25/2005 12:28:46 PM PST by Rocketwolf68
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To: Rocketwolf68
Well what about in True Lies when they smuggled nukes into the country inside ancient Sumerian statues or something? You know what you see in the movies is always 100% accurate. /sarcasm set to 11
7 posted on 02/25/2005 12:34:56 PM PST by Bacon Man (Did you mean for those all words to come out together or did they just fall out randomly?)
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To: Lazamataz

Hey Laz, doesn't your formerly-underage Thai hooker hang out with this guy?


8 posted on 02/25/2005 12:37:13 PM PST by Xenalyte (Your mother sells hot dogs.)
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe

And the press account never questions if, in fact, any of these artifacts were stolen.

It is ASSUMED that governments can declare anything contrband and seize it.


9 posted on 02/25/2005 1:51:30 PM PST by eno_
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To: nickcarraway

merci beni.

So is this the guy who is selling FAKES, or this guy selling REAL art treasures and bones?


10 posted on 02/25/2005 2:37:53 PM PST by UCANSEE2
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To: nickcarraway

Wouldn't a bone fossil be an artifact only if it is a man-made and counterfeit bone fossil? If his stuff is genuine, then booking the guy for dealing in artifacts wouldn't hold water.


11 posted on 02/25/2005 5:25:23 PM PST by GSlob
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