Snakes Return: A Flight to India Awaits

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A customs officer handles snakes that were captured and had their teeth removed. — Reuters

Customs officials in Mumbai announced that they intercepted a passenger arriving from Thailand carrying a wriggling load of live snakes, marking the third such incident this month.

“Customs officers successfully thwarted another attempt at wildlife smuggling, seizing 16 live snakes from a passenger returning from Thailand,” stated the customs agency at the Indian financial capital’s airport.

The passenger, who landed on Sunday, has been arrested, and the customs agency is conducting a further investigation.

The snakes included species commonly traded in the pet market, and most were non-venomous or had weak venom that poses no threat to humans.

Among the seized were garter snakes, a rhino rat snake, and a Kenyan sand boa, among others.

Earlier in June, customs officers caught a passenger trying to smuggle several venomous vipers from Thailand.

A few days later, another traveler was detained while carrying a mix of 100 animals, including lizards, sunbirds, and tree-climbing possums.

TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring organization, has expressed concern over a “very troubling” increase in trafficking driven by the exotic pet market.

In the past three and a half years, more than 7,000 live and dead animals have been seized on flights between Thailand and India.

While snake seizures are less common in Mumbai, customs officers frequently share images of confiscated gold, cash, cannabis, or suspected cocaine concealed by passengers.

In February, customs agents also apprehended a smuggler attempting to transport five Siamang gibbons, a small ape native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

The endangered animals were cleverly hidden in a plastic crate inside the passenger’s luggage, according to customs officials.

In November, customs seized a passenger transporting a wriggling load of 12 turtles, while the month before, four hornbills were confiscated from another arriving passenger from Thailand.

In September, two individuals were arrested with five juvenile caimans, a type of reptile related to alligators.