Indian smuggler caught at airport with 52 live venomous snakes and exotic animals

An Indian passenger allegedly trying to smuggle venomous vipers was held in Mumbai after flying from Thailand, customs officials in the western city said on Sunday.

The man, whose identity wasn’t revealed, had concealed 52 live animals, including 44 Indonesian pit vipers, in his checked-in luggage.

Photos released by Mumbai Customs showed dozens of turquoise-coloured pit vipers squirming in a bucket and venomous spider-tailed horned vipers slithering.

He was also carrying Asian leaf turtles, native to Southeast Asia and known for their distinctive camouflage of leaf-like carapace.

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“An Indian national arriving from Thailand was arrested,” Mumbai Customs said, adding that they had seized 44 Indonesian pit vipers, three spider-tailed horned vipers and five Asian leaf turtles.

One of the 44 pit vipers had died by the time the luggage was opened.

The man, travelling from Bangkok, was intercepted after he “exhibited signs of nervousness”, The Times of india">India quoted the investigators as saying.

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The haul of live animals is a rare seizure in Mumbai, where customs authorities regularly seize smuggled gold, cash or drugs. However, this is not the first time they have found live animals flown into India.

In February, Mumbai airport authorities found a smuggler with five endangered Siamang gibbons, a small ape native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The apes were found concealed in a plastic crate placed inside the passenger’s trolley bag.

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In April last year, customs officials in the southern city of Bangalore arrested a passenger for allegedly smuggling 10 yellow anacondas concealed in his checked-in bag. The passenger was flying in from Bangkok, Thailand.

In September 2023, a passenger from Bangkok was found carrying six Capuchin monkeys, 55 ball pythons in various colour variations, and 17 king cobras in their luggage. The primates were found dead, but the snakes were still alive and were later sent to their country of origin.