Three people, suspected of being members of a wildlife trafficking gang, were found to have used tranquiliser darts to capture over 10 macaque monkeys in Thailand’s Lop Buri province.

An unnamed witness, who claims to have recorded the stealing of the monkeys on his smartphone, said that a saloon car arrived in front of a house in the middle of Mueang district on Monday, where there are many monkeys.

One man and two women alighted from the car and gave food to the animals, which followed them to their car. The man then used tranquiliser darts to subdue the monkeys and grabbed them, one at a time, and threw them into the car.

The witness said he shouted at the group who immediately sped away. Two darts were found at the scene. He reported the incident to Tha Hin police who subsequently checked CCTV in the area.

The police traced license plate of the car to Uthai Thani.

Numerous monkeys have previously been trapped in monasteries by wildlife trafficking gangs and smuggled across the border into Laos for export to China, where their body parts are believed to be an aphrodisiac.