A man has been stopped at Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany after trying to smuggle in more than 90 lizards and venomous snakes.
Customs officials said the 45-year-old Mexican firefighter had looked “conspicuously nervous” as he tried to go through the green – nothing to declare – exit at the airport.
They conducted a drugs test on the man – which came back positive for cocaine – before proceeding to check his suitcase.
They did not find any drugs, but vipers, rattlesnakes and other species of snakes and lizards, including iguanas, hidden in shampoo and cream bottles, plastic containers and balls of socks.
“My colleagues at the airport are used to a lot when it comes to souvenirs in suitcases, but we’ve never had 37 live venomous snakes and 55 lizards from Mexico before,” said Jens Ahland, spokesman for the Cologne Customs office.
Some were being kept “in inhumane conditions”, Ahland said. Others had died during the journey from Mexico City via Istanbul.
The man, who has not been named, told officers that he had brought the animals back as a favour for a Brazilian acquaintance.
He was denied entry to Germany and flown back to Istanbul.
As for the surviving animals, they are being looked after at a snake farm in Germany.
“Last year, we had over 1,300 seizures nationwide involving more than 56,600 protected animals and plants or products made from them,” the Customs spokesman said.
Six years ago, 26 rare reptiles – 10 of them dead – smuggled inside parcels of toys and sweets from Mexico, were found by customs officials at Cologne Bonn Airport.
They were destined for private buyers in Germany.
