Snakes on a plane: Authorities arrest Indian smuggler caught with venomous vipers
The snakes, which included 44 Indonesian pit vipers, were 'concealed in checked-in baggage', Mumbai Customs said in a statement late Sunday.
'An Indian national arriving from Thailand was arrested,' it added.
The passenger, details of whom were not released, also had three Spider-tailed horned vipers -- which are venomous, but usually only target small prey such as birds -- as well as five Asian leaf turtles.
Mumbai Customs issued photographs of the seized snakes, including blue and yellow reptiles squirming in a bucket.
The snakes are a relatively unusual seizure in Mumbai, with customs officers more regularly posting pictures of hauls of smuggled gold, cash, cannabis or pills of suspected cocaine swallowed by passengers.
However, in February, customs officials at Mumbai airport also stopped a smuggler with five Siamang gibbons, a small ape native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Those small creatures, listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, were 'ingeniously concealed' in a plastic crate placed inside the passenger's trolley bag, customs officers said.
In November, customs officers seized a passenger carrying a wriggling live cargo of 12 turtles, and a month before, four hornbill birds, all on planes arriving from Thailand.
In September, two passengers were arrested with five juvenile caimans, a reptile in the alligator family.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
16 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Thailand returns two wounded soldiers to Cambodia
Cambodia on Friday welcomed the return of two wounded soldiers who had been captured by the Thai army after the two sides had already implemented a ceasefire to end five days of combat over competing territorial claims. Their repatriation comes amid accusations and bickering over whether either side had targeted civilians and breached the laws of war and sharp nationalist feuding on social media. The rest of a 20-member group of Cambodian soldiers captured on Tuesday in one of the disputed pockets of land over which the two sides were fighting remain in Thai hands and Cambodian officials are demanding their release. The two countries have given differing accounts of the circumstances of the capture. Cambodian officials say their soldiers approached the Thai position with 'friendly intentions' to offer post-fighting greetings while Thai officials said the Cambodians appeared to have 'hostile intent' and entered what 'Thailand considers its territory' so were taken prisoner. Cambodian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Maly Socheata confirmed that the two wounded soldiers had been handed over at a border checkpoint between Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province and urged the Thai side to promptly repatriate the remaining personnel in accordance with international humanitarian law. Thailand says it has been following international legal procedures and was holding the remaining 18 soldiers until it could investigate their actions. A statement issued Friday by Thailand's 2nd Army Region identified the two repatriated Cambodian soldiers as a sergeant with a broken arm and a gash on his hip and a second lieutenant who appeared to be suffering from battle fatigue and needed care from his family. It said both men had taken an oath not to engage in further hostilities against Thailand. Neither man has been made available for interviews by neutral third parties. There were other peaceful activities on Friday on both sides of the border as both countries staged tours of the former battle areas for foreign diplomats and other observers highlighting damage allegedly caused by the other side. The two countries continue to accuse each other of having violated the laws of war with attacks on civilians and the illegal use of weapons. More than three dozen people civilian and soldiers were killed in the fighting which in addition to infantry battles included artillery duels and the firing of truck-mounted rockets by Cambodia to which Thailand responded with airstrikes. More than 260000 people in total were displaced from their homes. Under the terms of the ceasefire military representatives of both sides are supposed to meet next week to iron out details to avoid further clashes. However the talks are not supposed to cover the competing territorial claims that are at the heart of decades-long tension between the two countries. Partisans of both sides are also waging a war of words online with Thailand accusing Cambodia of also carrying out malicious hacking. Both countries' professional journalism societies have accused each other of spreading false information and other propaganda.
Arab News
20 hours ago
- Arab News
Sierra Leone chimp refuge shuts doors to tourists to protest deforestation
FREETOWN: The eco-lodges and tree-covered footpaths of West Africa's largest chimpanzee refuge have been devoid of tourists for more than two months as its founder stages a protest about rampant deforestation in Sierra Leone. Authorities acknowledge that the country's rich wildlife is threatened by land seizures and illegal logging, but the founder of the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Bala Amarasekaran, says they have not yet done enough about it to convince him to reopen to visitors. 'A few months back, we could see the land grabbing and the encroachment coming closer to the sanctuary,' Amarasekaran said at the refuge, which is home to more than 100 mainly orphaned chimps and normally lets guests stay in its lodges. '(Deforestation) is really threatening the sanctuary's existence, because it's too dangerous when people come close to a wildlife preserve like this,' said Amarasekaran, who founded the refuge 30 years ago and has led it through crises including civil war and the 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic. Sierra Leone lost approximately 2.17 million hectares (5.36 million acres) of tree cover between 2001 and 2024, representing about 39 percent of the total in 2000, according to online tracker Global Forest Watch. The Western Area Peninsula, home to the capital Freetown and Tacugama, lost more than 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of tree cover during that same period. Amarasekaran said deforestation in the area was fueled by 'land grabbing' for development. The consequences of rapid deforestation were highlighted by a mudslide on the slopes of Mount Sugar Loaf in 2017 that killed an estimated 1,000 people. A 2019 paper published by the Geological Society of London blamed the incident on a mix of heavy rain, deforested slopes and unchecked construction. It said tree loss had weakened the soil's ability to absorb water and hold together, worsening the mudflow. 'It's a serious problem, an existential problem,' Sierra Leone's Information Minister Chernor Bah said. 'We regret that the Tacugama authorities have taken the step that they have taken to shut down here, but it's one that we understand.' Amarasekaran said President Julius Maada Bio's government had dispatched a task force to conduct some raids on illegal logging operations, but complained about a lack of follow-up operations. Bah said the government was committed to protecting the peninsula's forests.
Al Arabiya
20 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Bear attacks woman outside Japan disabled home
A woman in Japan was sent to hospital unconscious after an apparent bear attack outside a facility for people with disabilities, police said on Friday. More and more wild bears have been spotted in residential areas in Japan in recent years, resulting in a rising number of attacks and deaths. 'A 73-year-old woman was found lying down with head injuries at the facility entrance on Thursday night,' a local police spokesman in the northern Akita region told AFP. Emergency doctors told police they believed it was a bear attack based on the injuries the woman suffered, the spokesman said. Security camera footage outside the facility showed a bear-like animal attacking the woman when she was walking with what appeared to be a garbage bag, he added. 'She was unable to talk due to injuries and was unconscious when sent to hospital.' According to government data, bears attacked 85 people in the year ending March 2025, with three people killed. In the previous year, there were 219 attacks and six deaths. Akita region decided last week to extend its bear alert until September, citing 'frequent bear sightings and high risk of encountering a bear.' 'Please take basic countermeasures and exercise the highest level of caution,' it warned residents. Last month, a bear sighting prompted organizers of a golf tournament to cancel the opening day. And in June, a bear roaming the runway forced the Yamagata airport to cancel flights. Climate change affecting food sources and hibernation times, along with depopulation caused by an aging society, are causing bears to venture into towns more frequently, scientists say.
