A cobra snake was
found in an airline passenger's hand luggage.
Snakes, crocs found in airline passenger's
hand luggage by Gulliver
Shakes alive! It almost became
a real life case of 'Snakes on a Plane' when a Saudi man
tried to smuggle live reptiles on board a plane at Cairo
airport recently.
The snakes, chameleons and baby crocodiles were discovered
in his hand luggage as he tried to board a flight bound
for Saudi Arabia.
Amazingly the 22-year-old passenger claimed he did not know
the transport of live reptiles was illegal in Egypt.
Horrified security officers found the weird luggage contents
as the man passed through the X-ray machine at the departure
gate.
After the machine produced strange readings police opened
his bags and discovered a large number of reptiles squirming
to escape.
The haul included a live cobra and 250 baby crocodiles.
The animals were confiscated and turned over to Cairo Zoo.
The man claimed the reptiles were needed by a Saudi university
for scientific research and experiments.
The discovery caused a brief panic among airport security
personnel, according to the Egyptian state news agency Mena.
Airport vet Yusef Mamduh was quoted by the agency as saying
it was "the largest smuggling attempt of Nile crocodiles
in the whole of aviation history."
The passenger was later allowed to return to Riyadh the
Saudi capital.
In May, another Saudi national was caught at Cairo airport
carrying 700 live snakes in his hand luggage.
He told authorities that snakes were often kept in Saudi
Arabia by shopkeepers in glass jars or used as pets.
