BANGKOK: Thai customs officials have arrested six Indians for attempting to smuggle a red panda and 86 other animals out of the kingdom, including snakes, parrots and monitor lizards, officials said on Wednesday.

The illicit menagerie was discovered hidden in the suspects` checked luggage at Bangkok`s Suvarnabhumi Airport as they tried to fly to Mumbai.

Thailand is a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers, who often sell the animals in China and Vietnam, although recent years have seen an uptick in trafficking to India.

`We have found out that the animals include 29 black throat monitor lizards, 21 snakes, 15 birds, including parrots atotal of 87 animals. The animals were hidden inside the luggage,` the Customs Department said in a statement.

Photos released by the department showed the red panda an endangered species peeking out of a wicker basket, and a parrot shut in a plastic container with air holes crudely drilled in the lid.

More plastic tubs held lizards, while snakes were seen coiled together in cloth bags. The suspects face a maximum of 10 years in jail or four times the amount of import duties.

Last month a Mongolian man was arrested at the same airport for trying to smuggle Komodo dragons, pythons and two dozen live fish out of the kingdom.-AFP