Snakes on a plane bound for India, again

NEW DELHI (AFP): Indian customs officers in Mumbai said they have stopped a plane passenger arriving from Thailand with a wriggling cargo of live snakes, the third such seizure this month.

“Customs officers… foiled yet another wildlife smuggling attempt, 16 live snakes… seized from passenger returning from Thailand,” said customs officers in the airport in the Indian financial hub.

The passenger, who arrived on Sunday, has been arrested, the customs agency said in a statement, with “further investigation underway.”

The live snakes included reptiles often sold in the pet trade, and were largely non-venomous, or with venom too weak to affect people.

They included garter snakes, a rhino rat snake and a Kenyan sand boa, among others.

In early June, customs officers stopped a passenger smuggling dozens of venomous vipers, also arriving from Thailand.

Days later, officers stopped another traveler carrying 100 creatures including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums.

Wildlife trade monitor TRAFFIC, which battles the smuggling of wild animals and plants, has warned of a “very troubling” trend in trafficking driven by the exotic pet trade.

More than 7,000 animals, dead and alive, have been seized along the Thailand-India air route in the last 3.5 years, it said.