The CBI has organised a coordination meeting with Thailand on live animal trafficking at its New Delhi headquarters. Officials discussed smuggling routes from Southeast Asia to South Asia, including air and land corridors through Myanmar. The agency said trafficking of exotic animals and birds involves organised criminal networks and requires cross-border collaboration to curb the activity.

CBI, Thailand Hold Joint Meeting To Combat Rising Live Animal Trafficking Networks In Asia | AI

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has organized a two-day coordination meeting between India and Thailand on ‘Live Animal Trafficking’ from 02-03 September 2026, at its Headquarters in New Delhi. The CBI is co-hosting this meeting in coordination with INTERPOL Environmental Security Sub-Directorate (ENS). During the two days, participants will discuss exotic species trafficking trends, smuggling routes, and concealment methods used by criminal networks and further collaboration on identification of targets.

Exotic Pet Trade Fuels Smuggling

The smuggling of exotic live animals and birds for pet trade is a growing trend in Asia. There has been increasing trend in the smuggling of live exotic animals and birds between South-East Asia and South Asia. Mainly using the air routes, live animals are being trafficked from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia to South Asian countries including India where Singapore is used as transit point enroute. The other frequently used route is the land route from Thailand via Myanmar, officials said on Wednesday.

Inaugurating the event, Manoj Sashidhar, Special Director, CBI said that live animal and bird trafficking is not merely an issue of wildlife protection. It is increasingly a transnational criminal activity involving organized networks, sophisticated methods of concealment and transportation and linkages that extend across jurisdictions.

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International Cooperation Stressed

The movement of live animals and birds can involve multiple intermediaries and routes, making international cooperation an essential component of any effective investigation. The importance of getting Interpol notices issued against fugitives involved in wildlife trafficking was also emphasized.

Apart from the officers of Thailand, the meeting is being attended by the officers from Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB); DRI and CBI.

In July this year, CBI and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Mumbai, in a joint operation, with support from WCCB, Mumbai and Kolkata, had recovered and rescued 52 protected animals and birds including 15 Slow Loris, 2 Binturong, 28 Star Tortoises, 6 Egyptian Vultures and 2 Shikra birds from wildlife traffickers.

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