An Indian passenger was arrested after attempting to smuggle dozens of venomous snakes into Mumbai from Thailand, according to Indian customs authorities.
Among the reptiles discovered were 44 Indonesian pit vipers, hidden inside the passenger’s checked luggage. Mumbai Customs, in a statement issued late Sunday, also reported the seizure of three Spider-tailed horned vipers and five Asian leaf turtles. Photos shared on social media showed blue and yellow snakes writhing in a bucket.
Snake smuggling is rare at Mumbai airport, where seizures more commonly involve gold, cash, drugs, or narcotics swallowed by travellers. Still, wildlife smuggling through air travel has been rising.
In February, officials intercepted five endangered Siamang gibbons smuggled in a plastic crate concealed within a trolley bag. Other recent cases include a man caught with 12 live turtles in November, another with four hornbills in October, and two people arrested in September carrying five juvenile caimans.
In July last year, Chinese authorities detained a man trying to sneak over 100 live snakes into mainland China by hiding them in his trousers.
Back in 2019, customs at Chennai airport seized a passenger arriving from Thailand with a horned pit viper, five iguanas, four blue-tongued skinks, three green tree frogs, and 22 Egyptian tortoises.
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