German customs officers at Cologne/Bonn Airport stopped a 45-year-old passenger from Mexico who tried to smuggle 92 live reptiles in his luggage, the website infohub.kz reports.
The man drew inspectors' attention through his extreme nervousness as he tried to pass through the green channel. Airport staff first ran a rapid test that showed traces of cocaine, but a search of his luggage turned up no drugs. Instead of banned substances, the suitcase contained 37 venomous snakes, including rattlesnakes and vipers, as well as 55 lizards.
The animals were kept in extremely harsh conditions. The traveler had stuffed the dangerous reptiles into plastic containers, shampoo and cream bottles, and had also hidden them in rolled-up socks. Because of the long flight on the Mexico City–Istanbul–Cologne route and the cramped packing, some of the rare reptiles died en route.
The detained man, a firefighter in Mexico, told customs officers that he had agreed to transport the live cargo at the personal request of an acquaintance from Brazil. German authorities denied him entry and sent him back to Istanbul on a return flight. All the surviving snakes and lizards were handed over to a specialized German farm for care.