Female passenger found with 22 snakes and a chameleon at Chennai airport
A woman traveller was caught with 22 reptiles in her baggage at the Chennai airport. Twitter.
In a shocking case of seizure by customs officials, a female passenger was found with 22 snakes including two fully grown ball pythons at the Chennai airport on Friday, 28 April 2023. The woman who returned from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia had the animals hidden in her checked-in baggage in ventilated boxes. As stated by the officials, the seizure included two eight-foot-long fully-grown ball pythons besides other snakes of various species and a chameleon. A video of the incident is going viral where airport officials can be seen taking out the snake with the use of a long rod, while a few snakes can be seen wriggling out of the crates on the floor.
While the identity of the female passenger has not been revealed, it is being said that she arrived from Kuala Lumpur on flight AK13 at the Chennai airport on Friday. On the basis of inputs, the woman was intercepted by Customs, who on examination of her baggage found 22 snakes and a chameleon. The reptiles and chameleon have been seized under the Customs Act, 1962 r/w Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
On 28.04.23, a female pax who arrived from Kuala Lumpur by Flight No. AK13 was intercepted by Customs.
On examination of her checked-in baggage, 22 Snakes of various species and a Chameleon were found & seized under the Customs Act, 1962 r/w Wildlife Protection act, 1972 pic.twitter.com/uP5zSYyrLS— Chennai Customs (@ChennaiCustoms) April 29, 2023
“On 28.04.23, a female pax who arrived from Kuala Lumpur by Flight No. AK13 was intercepted by Customs. On examination of her checked-in baggage, 22 Snakes of various species and a Chameleon were found & seized under the Customs Act, 1962 r/w Wildlife Protection act, 1972,” the Chennai Customs tweeted.
Notably, this is not the first time when such recoveries have been made by the customs. On several occasions in the past, passengers were found smuggling exotic animals and reptiles through their baggage. In January this year, two unattended bags were recovered by the Customs department at the Chennai airport, inside which they found 45 ball pythons, three marmosets, three-star tortoises, and eight corn snakes.
Apart from this, passengers are also intercepted for illegally carrying foreign currency, gold, and diamonds, among other items.
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