Women caught red-handed trying to sneak horde of snakes and turtles onto plane
Two women have been arrested after they were busted trying to sneak more than 100 live animals onto a plane.
Shocked airport staff found the creatures inside the luggage of Nithya Raja, 38, and Zakia Sulthana Ebrahim, 24, at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand on Monday ( June 28 ).
Sathon Khong-ngern, chief of the wildlife checkpoint, said 109 animals were spread between two cases and were located after an X-ray inspection.
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The bizarre discovery included two albino porcupines, two armadillos, 35 turtles, 50 lizards and 20 snakes.
Raja and Ebrahim were charged with violating the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2019, reports Khong-ngern.
They were also found to have breached the Animal Disease Act of 2015 and the Customs Act of 2017. It remains unclear what the women were planning to do with the animals.
According to CNN, animal trafficking through airports has been an ongoing issue in the region.
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A man who previously arrived in Chennai from Bangkok, was allegedly detained after stunned customs officers discovered a month-old leopard cub in his luggage in 2019.
In May, authorities at the Chennai International Airport recovered an albino porcupine and a monkey from someone's baggage.
The Daily Star previously reported how an infected dog was dumped at an airport after its owner refused to pay a fee for him to travel.
The dog called Bama was meant to get on a plane to Miami but was abandoned after the woman realised she needed to provide his vaccine information.
"She left the counter and said she’d make other arrangements," Tampa Airport Police Chief Charlie Vazquez said.
Corrin Smith at VIP Rescue was called to the scene and said: "He was in a really bad shape. He's matted, he's got ear infections, he's got his teeth are infected, he's got a tumour on his back."
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