In a bizarre incident, a traveler was caught attempting to smuggle over 100 live snakes into mainland China by concealing them in his pants.
The unnamed man was stopped by customs officers as he tried to slip out of the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong and into the border city of Shenzhen.
According to China Customs, the officers discovered that the pockets of the man’s trousers were packed with six canvas drawstring bags, sealed with tape. Upon opening the bags, they found the bags were filled with a variety of live snakes, including milk snakes and corn snakes – many of which were non-native species.
In total, the authorities seized 104 of the scaly reptiles from the would-be smuggler. A video released by the customs agency showed border agents examining the transparent plastic bags filled with the squirming snakes in an array of colors.
China is known as one of the world’s biggest hubs for animal trafficking, but authorities have been cracking down on the illicit trade in recent years. The country’s biosecurity and disease control laws strictly prohibit the importation of non-native species without proper authorization.
“Those who break the rules will be held liable in accordance with the law,” the customs authority stated, though they did not specify the punishment for the caught smuggler.
