The loot also included king cobras, reticulated pythons, and Burmese pythons.
The animals were packed into bags and metal tins and kept on blocks of ice to prevent them from overheating.
The smugglers, two Cambodian men in their late 20s, were arrested by authorities.
The animals, thought to have come from protected areas in Battambang Province in western Cambodia, were released into a protected area near Tonle Sap Lake in the country's central region, according to Wildlife Alliance.
Informant Network
Before the most recent bust, task force officials were tipped off about two Toyotas loaded with wildlife.
The government task force—called the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team—relies on a countrywide network of informants, who alert them to potential smuggling activities.
"When we receive information, we have to react extremely quickly," Marx said.
"Animals are often in transit, and if we don't reach them before they reach the border we're not able to rescue them."
The Wildlife Alliance-backed group of eight military police and four forestry officials has rescued some 32,000 animals in Cambodia since the task force was set up in 2001.
Big-Market Business
Though still traditionally accepted in Cambodia, wild meat consumption has declined dramatically in the country in recent years.
"A lot of the traders that used to sell wildlife meat [to Cambodians] have stopped," Marx said.
But the Southeast Asian country remains an important source of animals for the regional wildlife trade, and traders operating there are becoming increasingly sophisticated, conservationists say.
"It's a professional, big-market business run by people who know what they're sourcing and know where they're selling it," said Colin Poole, director of the Asia program for the Wildlife Conservation Society.
(See photos of bears and tigers on sale at a Southeast Asian market.)
With a 12-person task force to cover a country the size of the U.S. state of Missouri, smugglers often manage to escape into neighboring countries, using tricks such as switching cars to avoid detection.
Cambodia is also part of the Association of Southeast Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network, or ASEAN-WEN, which was formed in 2005 to combat the illegal wildlife trade.
But Cambodia has had little involvement with the network so far, according to Marx of Wildlife Alliance.
"This is a regional problem, and so we need to be addressing it on a more regional basis," he said.
"A stronger connection with ASEAN-WEN … [would] be a big step forward, as it will mean that traders can still be arrested and animals rescued even after they leave the country."
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