The frozen animals were found in the freezer at the house of Nguyen Tien Dung, 49, last December.

Dung told the police that he bought the animals, weighing 5-10 kilos, from a Lao woman at a market in Bolykhamxay Province and froze them to make medicinal alcohol for sale.

Apart from the seven tiger cubs, police also found six pangolins and the head of a serow frozen inside Dung's house.

The man was arrested as police investigated the crimes against endangered animals.

Indochinese tigers are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. The illegal wildlife trade threatens their population, as some people believe their bones could be used to make traditional medicine to treat specific ailments.