Police in northeastern Thailand who chased a pickup truck trying to avoid a highway checkpoint found unexpected contraband in the back of the vehicle: 16 tiger cubs. Police Col. Supakorn Khamsingnok said on Saturday the driver told police he was paid 15,000 baht ($500) to deliver the cubs from a Bangkok suburb to northeastern Udon Thani Province on the border with Laos. Supakorn said police believe the tigers were being sent outside Thailand. Thailand is a hub of the international black market for protected animals and wildlife parts, often used for traditional East Asian medicines.—AP