Chennai, February 12 Customs officials have thwarted an attempt to smuggle exotic wildlife from Thailand at the airport here, a senior official said on Thursday.
Acting on specific information, officials from the Customs department (Airport) intercepted an Indian national from Bangkok who arrived here on February 11.
Upon examining his checked-in baggage, department officials recovered 31 exotic animals – 9 African spurred tortoises, 4 Iguanas, 1 eastern water dragon, 12 ball pythons, 1 Albino corn snake, 3 Blue-tongued skinks, and 1 white king snake – which were concealed inside two electric appliances in his baggage.
During interrogation, the passenger failed to produce any import certificate for the species and confessed that he had transported the wildlife for monetary gain, according to an official release from Joint Commissioner Sadeesh Kumar K.
The recovered animals fall under the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and have been sent back to Thailand.
The passenger was arrested under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, and further investigation is underway, the release added.