Smuggler with 100 snakes in pants exposed

Chinese customs officers intercepted the perpetrator while he was attempting to cross the border between the mainland and Hong Kong.

Chinese customs officers caught a man trying to smuggle more than 100 live snakes into the country by stuffing them in his pants, local media reported on Tuesday.

The suspicious-looking man was detained by officials last week as he attempted to enter the country through the non-declaration channel at Futian Port in Shenzhen, which is a checkpoint between Hong Kong and mainland China.

Upon inspection, the officers found six plastic bags stuffed into the man’s trouser pockets, containing a wide variety of live snakes. The final count revealed that there were 104 of the reptiles hidden in his pants.

Five species of snakes were later identified – milk snakes, western hognose snakes, corn snakes, Texas rat snakes, and bullsnakes. Four of the species are non-native to China, and therefore banned from being brought into the country without certification.

The customs authority did not reveal the smuggler’s name, nor did they say whether the man had been arrested. The agency warned, however, that in accordance with Chinese legislation on biosafety and disease control, it may pursue legal liability if it deems the man’s actions to have been in violation of regulations.

Animal trafficking is a common occurrence in China, despite laws prohibiting the practice. Last month, CCTV News reported that a man had been detained when trying to smuggle a total of 454 turtles, including some endangered species, to mainland China from Macau.