Two suspected wildlife smugglers were arrested for allegedly selling a tiger cub in Thailand.

Vietnamese man Ho, 34, and Thai woman Sawitree, 42, were detained by the Central Investigation Bureau during a sting operation in Bueng Kan province on June 4.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Pitchayapat Yooyensiri of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division said the arrest came following a tip-off from the Wildlife Justice Commission that the pair were advertising the tiger cub to sell in Southeast Asia.

Officers pretended to be buyers and arranged to meet Ho. Upon confirming he possessed a tiger cub, they revealed themselves and arrested him.

They also seized the tiger cub, a blue plastic basket, a white Mitsubishi Xpander car, and two iPhone 11 units.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Pitchayapat said: 'The Vietnamese suspect admitted to all charges and confessed that he ordered the tiger cub from a farm in Vietnam. However, we will investigate further to determine if it was taken from the wild or not.

'Meanwhile, the Thai woman Sawitree, denied the charges and claimed she did not know what was inside the box. She said a Laotian man named Ton merely sent the container to be delivered to Ho.'

The six-kilogramme tiger cub was a female approximately one month old. It was handed over to the Bueng Kan Animal Inspection Bureau to be taken care of.

Tigers are protected animals according to the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act. They are listed in Appendix I of CITES, prohibiting their trade.

The penalty for trading tigers can include up to 10 years in jail, a fine of up to 1 million THB (21,450 GBP), or both.