The man and woman are charged with illegally hunting nationally-protected animals they later admitted to snatching during a visit to Shanghai's Sheshan National Forest Park in August, media reported Sunday.
The couple's monkey business caught up to them at a highway checkpoint early on October 20.
Traffic officers with Shanghai's Jinshan said during the routine stop they discovered the woman seated in the passenger's seat cradling the two young macaques in her arms.
Police said the woman first claimed the primates to be pets.
Only when officers pressed the couple to produce paperwork for the exotic animals did they finally come clean.
The couple explained that had lured the monkeys at the park using with pieces of bread.
The couple is in police custody and faces up to five years in prison and fines according to wildlife protection laws.
