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400 illegal deadly piranhas found in Thai home
Police seized 400 carnivorous piranhas from a home in the Thai capital and are searching for their owner amid fears some of the deadly fish may soon wind up in public waterways, a report said Saturday.
Police seized 400 carnivorous piranhas from a home in the Thai capital and are searching for their owner amid fears some of the deadly fish may soon wind up in public waterways, a report said on Saturday.
Bangkok police found the notoriously dangerous freshwater fish in two large tanks at the house of a man who now faces up to six years in prison and a fine of 120,000 baht (2,883 dollars) if convicted of owning and breeding the fish, the Nation newspaper reported.
Owner Kriangsak Charukthiti was not home during the raid and a warrant is out for his arrest, Agriculture Minister Sora-at Klinprathum was cited as saying.
Possession of the South American fish is illegal in Thailand, where the last piranha seizure took place 16 years ago.
They sell on the black market for up to 3,000 baht (72 dollars) each, the English-language daily said.
Police were tipped off by a fish breeder who spotted the piranhas during a visit to Kriangsak's home, it added.
Sora-at said authorities were trying to track down anyone who may have purchased the deadly fish.
"What I fear most is that whoever bought the piranhas will release them into natural waterways for fear of arrest," he was quoted as saying.
Last year Thai authorities called on animal-lovers to hand over deadly blue-ring octopuses, one of several exotic pets to become popular in the kingdom and which, like the piranha, are classified as extremely dangerous.
