NEW DELHI – Indian airport authorities found 22 snakes in the baggage of a woman who arrived at Chennai airport from Kuala Lumpur.
The female passenger was “intercepted” after arriving on an AirAsia flight on Friday, the Chennai customs department said yesterday.
On examination of her checked-in baggage, 22 snakes of various species and a chameleon were found and seized under the customs and wildlife protection laws, it said.
According to local media reports, the reptiles were packed in transparent plastic containers.
Reptiles are among the species in high demand in the illegal wildlife trade in India and their seizures at airports are not uncommon.
In January this year, 45 ball pythons, three marmosets, three-star tortoises, and eight corn snakes were seized at Chennai from a passenger arriving from Thailand.
In October 2022, authorities seized 1,204 reptiles of exotic species such as ball pythons, green iguanas, monitor lizards, corn snakes and African spurred tortoises at Chennai, according to an annual report of India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). – Bernama, April 30, 2023
