Usually, the residents’ line at customs is a fairly straightforward experience. While non-residents are grilled about their plans, their luggage, etc, those returning home do little more than flash their passport to customs officers as they breeze through to baggage claim.
But when customs officers hear “flipping noises,” chances are, they’ll suspect something fishy.
That’s what happened with Sharon Naismith, a 45 year-old Australian woman who was caught in June 2005 at a Melbourne airport, trying to smuggle 15 Asian fish into the country. She’d constructed an apron of 15 water-filled plastic bags, which she concealed under her dress. Officers found 14 catfish, and one very rare Asian arowana, reportedly worth tens of thousands of dollars.
She was sentenced today to 9 months of community service, pleading guilty to a charge of attempting to import regulated wildlife.
No news on whether or not the fish made it home safely.