Police in Samut Sakhon province have seized 346 tonnes of smuggled chicken feet, an ingredient of a popular Thai spicy salad, and collected samples to be tested for possible avian influenza.
Pol Maj Gen Patanasak Buppasuwan, commander of the Consumer Protection Police Division, said the large amount of chicken feet were found at a cold storage facility in tambon Nadee of Muang district in Samut Sakhon, about 30 kilometres from Bangkok, on Saturday. He estimated the value of the smuggled chicken parts at 24.25 million baht.
According to the commander, the chicken feet were smuggled from several countries – Brazil, Chile, Germany and Turkey. There were no documents to prove their legitimate import and disease control approval.
Police had yet to prosecute wrongdoers for the smuggling, which carries a jail term of up to two years and/or a fine of up to 200,000 baht.
Chicken feet are a main ingredient of a popular Thai street food informally known as “super”. It stands for an intensely sour and fiery dish prepared with galangal, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, coriander, bird’s-eye chillies and lime juice, with chicken feet as the protein centrepiece.
A box of the smuggled chicken feet (Police photo)