Customs officers in Mumbai, India, found some slithering creatures after stopping a plane passenger on Sunday.
The incident happened Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport when the officers confronted the passenger who was arriving from Thailand, CBS News reported.
The individual was apparently carrying several live snakes and officials arrested the person as a result. Now, authorities are investigating further.
“Customs officers at CSMI Airport, Mumbai Customs Zone-III foiled yet another wild life smuggling attempt, 16 live snakes-Garter, Rhino Rat, Albino Rat, Kenyan Sand Boa, CA King etc. seized from passenger returning from Thailand,” officials said in a social media post along with a photo of some of the snakes:
Per the CBS report, “Wildlife trade monitor TRAFFIC, which battles the smuggling of wild animals and plants, has warned of a ‘very troubling’ trend in trafficking driven by the exotic pet trade.”
“More than 7,000 animals, dead and alive, have been seized along the Thailand-India air route in the last 3.5 years, it said,” the article noted.
In early 2019, a woman flying from Australia to Scotland found a python curled up in her shoe that was inside her suitcase, Breitbart News reported at the time.
An animal rescue officer in Scotland said, “I responded to a call from a woman who had just returned from a holiday in Australia who had found a small snake inside her shoe in her suitcase.”
“When I arrived, the snake had been contained by the caller, so I safely removed the snake from the property. Upon examination, the snake was found to be a spotted python which is not venomous,” the officer added.
In March 2024, Thai airport officials found a trove of endangered animals hidden in luggage and among them was a red panda. A few months later, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers uncovered a bag of reptiles hidden in a passenger’s pants at Miami International Airport, per Breitbart News.
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