22 snakes seized from woman arriving at Chennai airport from KL
NEW DELHI - The Indian airport authorities found 22 snakes in the baggage of a woman who arrived at Chennai airport from Kuala Lumpur, said the Chennai customs department on April 29.
The female passenger was “intercepted” after arriving on an AirAsia flight on April 28.
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.
The reptiles were packed in transparent plastic containers, according to local media reports.
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, the authorities seized 1,204 reptiles of exotic species such as ball python, green iguana, monitor lizard, corn snakes and African spurred tortoise at Chennai, according to an annual report of India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. - THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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