At the request of US officials, immigration police are helping search for two American men who might be hiding in Cambodia after allegedly stealing preserved human remains from a Thai museum, police said yesterday.

The Bangkok South Criminal Court issued warrants on Tuesday for the arrests of Ryan Edward McPherson, 31, and Daniel Jamon Tanner, 33, who are wanted in Thailand for theft and false declarations violating the country’s Customs Act.

McPherson and Tanner were questioned by Thai police after they were named as the senders of three macabre Las Vegas-bound parcels. The packages contained a human heart, a baby’s severed head, a baby’s right foot and two strips of tattooed human skin.

Cambodian immigration deputy director Ouk Hay Seila said that immigration police are on the lookout for the suspects.

“I have contacted my colleagues following the request of US officials,” Hay Seila said.

The men fled to Cambodia on Sunday morning after being questioned by police, passing through a border checkpoint at Sa Kaeo province, said Thai national police deputy chief Ruangsak Jritake.

McPherson and Tanner had been released without charges after police found they had no criminal records.

The search for the men restarted Monday following confirmation from Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital that the human remains were stolen from their medical museum.

Later, authorities discovered that Tanner is awaiting trial for drug trafficking in the US.

Warrants were distributed to border checkpoints in Thailand and neighbouring countries.

Thai police have enlisted the help of Interpol, while the FBI is looking at whether the tourists broke any US laws.

If convicted, the men could face up to five and a half years in prison, or fines of about $15,500.

The US Embassy in Cambodia declined to comment.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY THE BANGKOK POST