Passenger of plane in India caught with 16 live snakes in luggage, including a rhino -gut snake

Indian customs officers in Mumbai said they arrested a plane passenger who arrived from Thailand with a twisted load of snakes live, the third seizure this month.

“Customs officers … They thwarted another attempt at wild life, 16 live snakes … They seized the passenger who returned from Thailand,” Customs officers said. They said it took place at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in India.

The passenger, who arrived on Sunday, was arrested, said the customs agency in a statement, with “more ongoing investigation.”

Live snakes included reptiles often sold in pet commerce, and were largely poisonous, or with too weak poison to affect people. The agency published images on the social networks of the snakes that were discovered.

They included Garter Snakes, a King de California snake with coastal bands, a rhinos rat and a sandy sand boa of Kenya, among others.

Customs officers at Mumbai airport are more accustomed to confiscating the smuggling gold, cash or cannabis, but cases of wildlife seizure have recently seen a gradual increase.

At the beginning of June, Customs officers stopped a passenger smuggling dozen poisonous vipersalso arriving from Thailand. Days later, the officers arrested another traveler Carrying 100 creatures including lizards, solar birds and tsiragnostas to cut the trees.

In February, Customs officials at Mumbai airport also arrested a smuggler with five Siamang Gibbons, a small native ape of the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. These little creatures, listed as in danger by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, were “ingeniously hidden” in a plastic box placed inside the passenger tram bag, said customs officers.

In November, the authorities found a passenger who had a twisted live load of 12 turtles.

“Very worrying” trend

The wildlife trade monitors traffic, which fights against smuggling of wild animals and plants, warned about a “very worrying” trend in traffic driven by the exotic pet trade.

More than 7,000 animals, dead and alive, have been seized along the Thailand-Indian air route in the last 3.5 years, he said.

The traffic said his analysis showed that, although most cases involve smuggling animals in Thailand, more than 80% of interceptions occurred in India.

“The almost fine discoveries and the diversity of wildlife on the way to India are very worrying,” said Southeast Traffic director Kanitha Krishnasamy.

Many of the captured were alive, which “shows that the clamor for exotic pets is promoting the trade,” he added.

• India
• Thailand
• Snake
• Illegal wildlife traffic