Customs finds snakes and geckos strapped to passenger

by Sean McLachlan on

The fine folks at Travelocity did a poll a couple of months ago to find out the most annoying type of passenger to be seated next to on an airplane. People with poor hygiene and those who cough or sneeze came out on top, but there’s one category they missed–the guy with reptiles strapped to his body.

Customs officials in Norway have arrested a man who had 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos hidden under his clothing. He had rolled up the pythons in socks and put the geckos inside boxes, and then taped them to his chest and legs. The animals had a total value of about $10,000.

While that’s pretty high on the ick scale, the scariest thing is that officials didn’t become suspicious until they did a routine check of his luggage and found a tarantula, at which point they searched him. This amazing video shows him all geared up and ready to fly.

This story begs the question–how often do people get away with this? How often have you sat next to someone covered in creepy crawlies? And how would you know?

Enjoy your flight!

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Freighter busted with a ton of cocaine hidden in dead sharks

by Annie Scott on

Cocaine shark? Has a new meaning.

There’s a new way to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. from Mexico: put it in a dead shark.

I have to give them credit. It’s a brilliant scheme. You could be all like “oh gosh, officer, I don’t know why the shark did so much coke — looks like that’s what killed him, though. Oh well. Mystery solved. He was kinda talkin’ my ear off. I need to take him to Miami to be cremated, cool?”

According to The BBC News:

“We are talking about more than a tonne of cocaine that was inside the ship,” said Mexican Navy Commander Eduardo Villa. “Those in charge of the shipment said it was a conserving agent but after checks we confirmed it was cocaine.”

Apparently, x-rays and sniffer dogs uncovered the great white deception on the freighter in the Gulf coast port of Progreso in Yucatan state.

We feel it would have been more appropriate to smuggle the coke in blowfish.

44 snakes and lizards almost smuggled on a plane

by Jamie Rhein on

Not that I’ve thought much about smuggling lizards and snakes on a plane, but reading about this Australian guy who was nabbed a couple days ago trying to smuggle 44 snakes and lizards from Australia to Bangkok got me thinking. Why 44?

Seems to me that’s overshooting one’s luck. Wouldn’t it have been better to stop at 10, perhaps? Not that I want to give anyone smuggling advice since I think animals and plants should be left where they’re found unless it’s legal to transport them and a person has a permit to do so, but I’m flummoxed that this guy thought he could get by with it.

Look at the X-ray. A snake looks like a snake in an X-ray, and a lizard looks like a lizard. Not long ago a woman was apprehended trying to smuggle three banana plants in her underwear. If that didn’t work, considering that plants are inanimate objects, it seems three black headed pythons might attract some attention.

Along with those three he had an Albino Carpet Python, 24 Shingleback Lizards and 16 Blue Tongue Lizards. He must not have seen Catherine’s post from 2007 when a snake smuggling culprit was caught in Cairo. Or maybe when he saw that the Cairo guy was trying to transport 700 snakes, 4 snakes and 44 reptiles didn’t seem like all that many.

For his efforts, he could spend 10 years in jail and be fined a hefty sum. [via Buzz Feed]

110 pounds of pot found on plane and flight crew arrested

by Jamie Rhein on

After three bags filled with 110 pounds of pot — cannabis to high brow folks — were found on a flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow after the plane landed, fifteen members of the cabin and crew were arrested.

From the BBC article, it’s not clear why all fifteen were arrested, but they are being questioned to find out what they know about how these bags ended up on their South African Airways flight. The British officials take drug smuggling seriously and are not too pleased. Anyone who knows anything about the bags is being urged to call the authorities. Check the article for the phone number.

When I read this story, it reminded me of a high school field trip gone amok.

“What bags?”

“What pot?”

“What? Who me?”

“It’s for medicinal purposes only. Really.”

I wonder if there’s a chance that whoever was traveling with the bags — not the crew — saw the authorities and bolted. A curious story, indeed.

What strange things have been found on planes?


(Click the pictures to find out.)

American women found with $471,000 dollars at airport in Jamaica

by Jamie Rhein on

When the officials at the airport in Jamaica found $471,000 on two American women a couple days ago, they took it. See, you’re only allowed to have $10,000 which I would think is ample enough for a rip roaring good time in Jamaica.

So far, according to this AP article, there’s no news on exactly why the women had so much cash. I’m wondering if they cashed out their mutual funds while they had any money left and were hoping to get their hands on some beachfront property. I’ve certainly thought about where I might live in my golden years if the economy continues to head south. Of course, with the money I’ve squirreled away, I might be looking at a shack made of driftwood.

I’m also curious about how much room the money took up in a carry-on? Was the space bigger than the banana plants that were found in the woman’s underwear at the airport in New Zealand a little while back? Also, were they allowed to keep $10,000 each? I doubt that–at least not yet. If not, what are they doing for money in the meantime? Maybe they’re gathering driftwood for a cozy shack.

I bet they’re kicking themselves for whatever they did that got themselves caught.