Indian man arrested with venomous vipers in bag at Mumbai airport

Authorities in India have arrested a man for trying to smuggle dozens of rare reptiles, including poisonous snakes, into the country.

The Indian citizen, who was returning from Thailand, was stopped by customs officials at the airport in Mumbai city on Sunday.

Officials said the reptiles, including 44 venomous vipers, were found concealed in the man's checked-in luggage.

The reptiles have been seized under various wildlife protection laws in India.

The passenger has not been named and as he is in custody. He has not commented on his arrest.

Customs officials have released photographs on X of colourful snakes squirming in a dish.

In their post, they said they had seized three spider-tailed horned vipers, five Asian leaf turtles and 44 Indonesian pit vipers from the passenger.

It isn't clear where the reptiles had been sourced from.

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While it is not illegal to import animals into the country, India's wildlife protection law bans the import of certain species, including those classified as endangered or protected by the government.

A passenger also needs to get the required permits and licenses before importing any wildlife.

Reports of customs officials seizing banned wildlife from passengers trying to smuggle them into the country are not uncommon.

In January, Indian authorities arrested a Canadian man at the Delhi airport for carrying a crocodile skull in his luggage and month later, officials at the Mumbai airport stopped a passenger carrying five Siamang gibbons, a small ape native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

The gibbons, listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, were concealed in a plastic crate placed inside the passenger's trolley bag.

In November, customs officers arrested two passengers returning from Bangkok for carrying12 exotic turtles.

In 2019, officials at the Chennai airport seized a horned pit viper snake, five Iguanas, four blue-tongued skinks, three green tree frogs and 22 Egyptian tortoises from a man travelling from Thailand.

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