In one such sensational case giving an alarming evidence of the surging threat of wildlife trafficking, customs officers at the airport of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mumbai, arrested a 34-year-old Chennai resident who was trying to bring in 16 exotic live snakes into the country. The arrest was conducted on a Friday night when the passenger, who was named Goodman Linford Leo, arrived on the flight coming from Bangkok.
Customs agents found several cotton bags full of live reptiles in a routine baggage inspection, and the reptiles included a variety of rare and exotic species. Two Kenyan sand boas, five rhinoceros rat snakes, three albino snakes, two Honduran milk snakes, one California kingsnake, two garter snakes, and one albino rat snake were among the ministry animals seized. Though the majority of such snakes were harmless, others had venom that was not powerful enough to cause serious damage to humans, according to the authorities.
Leo was immediately taken into custody due to the Customs Act for illegal importation of exotic wildlife. Tourism police reckon that he could be a part of a bigger international wildlife trafficking network, and an investigation is still ongoing to identify the possible connections and allies.
Wildlife experts of the Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) came to help identify the snakes and provide safe handling of the reptiles. Liaison with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) is continuing, and the government is working to send the animals back to Thailand on the condition of the Wildlife Protection Act.
This is the third big wildlife trafficking that has been reported at Mumbai Airport just this month. More recently, this month, authorities stopped a smuggler with venomous snakes, a viper, followed by 100 exotic creatures, lizards, possums, and sunbirds.
The importance of tightened enforcement and awareness in relation to the illegal trade of endangered and exotic species is highlighted by the case.
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