Seventy-six wild pangolins were rescued after smugglers stuffed them in mesh bags to be shipped to China where they were destined to be eaten.<br /> <br />The driver from the poaching syndicate, Sompol Mekchai, 45, was stopped after trying to evade a police checkpoint in Prachuap Khiri Khan, southern Thailand on Sunday (March 3).<br /> <br />Officers from the Sam Roi Yot district chased Sompol’s pickup truck as they suspected the strong odour of wild animals was coming from his vehicle.<br /> <br />The 18 mesh bags of pangolins were found stacked in the cargo area underneath a pile of wooden planks and construction equipment, which had been laid out to try and hide the animals.<br /> <br />Sompol admitted smuggling the animals and told police that he received the orders by phone but had ''never met his employer''.<br /> <br />He said he was under instructions to drive 200 miles and transfer the live pangolins to a cargo ship bound for China. They would then be unloaded and served up illegally for wealthy locals to eat.<br /> <br />Sompol, who has been in custody while police interrogate him, said: ''I had done it for three times now. All I had to do was to pick up the pangolins from Khlong Wan Subdistrict, Prachuap Khiri Khan and drive them to Pathum Thani Province where the ship was.''<br /> <br />The smuggler is facing charges of illegal possession of protected wildlife, which violates the Wildlife Act of 1992. <br /> <br />Police Colonel Chalermwut Wongwiangchan, the Sam Roi Yot police chief, has ordered officers to investigate more details on the trafficking route and the identification of Sompol’s boss.