Customs officers got a shock when checking a plane passenger’s carry-on luggage and discovering a massive albino Burmese python.
The footage shows the suspect going through security at Tashkent airport in Uzbekistan before being instructed to open his carry-on luggage.
He then unzips the bag and reveals the 10 foot long snake curled up asleep inside it.
The man was promptly arrested, with the Customs Department for the Tashkent region saying in a statement on 28th September: ‘The attempt to smuggle a three-metre snake at the ‘Gishtkuprik’ border customs post was uncovered.
‘At the ‘Gishtkuprik’ border customs post, a bag belonging to a passenger entering from a neighbouring state was scanned through the control X-ray machine.
‘Inside, a snake, which had not been declared verbally to customs officers or in the passenger’s customs declaration, was discovered.’
It’s believed the snake is a tiger albino python, which is native to South and Southeast Asia.
Customs added: ‘Since this animal is listed in the International Red Book, international CITIES permission is required to import it into the Republic of Uzbekistan. However, in the case above, the passenger was unable to present such documents to the customs officers.
‘An investigation is currently being conducted by the customs authorities. The snake has been handed over to the Tashkent Zoo, where specialists have assessed its condition as healthy.’
In 2022, two women took smuggling animals to a different level when they were found with 109 different animals in an airport.
Nithya Raja, 38, and Zakia Sulthana, 24, were detained when an X-ray screening of their luggage revealed more than 100 creatures stuffed inside their bags.`
Sathon Konggoen, chief of the wildlife inspection office at the airport, said: ‘This kind of case has happened many times because the animals have expensive price tags in India.
‘Animal trafficking is usually detected at the Thai-Myanmar borders and domestic airports to a certain extent.’
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If the animals had been sold on, they would have been worth an estimated 200,000 THB (roughly £4,700), authorities said.
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