By DPA
Bangkok : A Bangkok luxury store owner was convicted Monday for importing and selling “shahtoosh” shawls made from the wool of endangered Tibetan antelopes that had been shot by poachers, said the Asean Wildlife Enforcement Network in a statement.
A Thai court sentenced the store owner Reyaz Ahmad Mir to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of illegally trading shawls made from the highly prized wool. Police confiscated shawls worth at least $20,000.
The Bangkok case was closely followed by Asian wildlife protection agencies because the trade has continued despite clear bans and tough laws. A second and larger case against other Bangkok-based traffickers in shahtoosh is pending.
The shawls sell for up to $12,000 each on the black market. As few as 50,000 Tibetan antelopes, also known as chiru, are believed to be living in the wild. A century ago a million roamed the Tibet plateau.
Thailand’s wildlife crime task force spent four months in undercover investigations before the high-end shahtoosh stores in Bangkok were raided in July 2006. The three Indian nationals arrested during the raid told undercover investigators their customers were normally wealthy tourists.