The jokes just write themselves on this one. A man tried to smuggle more than 100 snakes into China recently in his pants. It's such a bold move. Let's see how that worked out for him.
Well, according to media reports, customs agents stopped him. Guess it didn't work out too swell, who would have guessed? "Upon inspection, customs officers discovered that the pockets of the trousers the passenger was wearing were packed with six canvas drawstring bags and sealed with tape," a statement from China's customs agency said Tuesday.
"Once opened, each bag was found to contain living snakes in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors," the statement said. Many of the snakes were non-native species. The man was trying to smuggle the snakes from Hong Kong into China. Apparently, China is one of the larger places for illegal wildlife trading. Illegal wildlife trading is a $20 billion annual industry. It's the third largest behind drugs and also counterfeit food.
Man Smuggles Snakes
In recent years, China has cracked down on smugglers. However, it wasn't hard for agents to see through the man's ruse. After all, all they had to do was check his pants. "Those who break the rules will be ... held liable in accordance with the law," the customs authority said. We don't know what sort of punishment he will receive.
One commenter joked, "Are there 104 snakes in your pants or are you just happy to see me?" Another wrote, "Snakes on a plane. That's silly." Another wrote, "Please tell me you told the passenger that he could have brought them on the plane legally in the proper pet carrier, instead of stashing them in their pants to save the pet fee. They deserve that. Now you have a 'Florida Man' story. Just like trying to sneak booze on a plane."
Still another wrote, "I guess it's a good thing they found the snakes before any of them had the opportunity to get out and slither around freely inside the man's pants."
As for the U.S., they also take this kind of thing seriously. U.S. Department of Transportation says, "Federal and state governments impose restrictions on transporting live animals. In addition, each airline establishes its own company policy for the proper handling of the animals they transport."
