A man was apprehended trying to smuggle more than 100 live snakes into mainland China by concealing them in his pants, according to the country’s customs authority.
Customs officers in Shenzhen intercepted the man at Futian Port, a checkpoint between Hong Kong and mainland China, as announced in a statement on Tuesday. During an inspection, officers discovered six canvas drawstring bags sealed with tape in the pockets of his pants.
“Officers opened the bags and found that each bag contained a number of live snakes in various shapes and colors,” the statement read. “After counting, a total of 104 snakes were found.”
Five species of snakes were identified: the milk snake, western hognose snake, corn snake, Texas rat snake, and bullsnake, with four of these species being non-native to China. None of the species is venomous. The statement mentioned the incident occurred “a few days ago,” without specifying the exact date.
The customs agency did not confirm if the man was arrested but warned that “if the regulations are violated, customs will pursue legal liability in accordance with the law.”
In a related incident in June, another man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 454 endangered turtles from Macau to mainland China.
