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Hong Kong –
A man was caught trying to smuggle more than 100 live snakes into mainland China by stuffing them into his pants, according to the country’s customs authority.
Customs officers in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen intercepted the man travelling through Futian Port, a checkpoint between Hong Kong and mainland China, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
During an inspection, officers found six canvas drawstring bags sealed with tape in the pockets of his pants.
“Officers opened the bags and found that each bag contained a number of live snakes in various shapes and colours,” the statement said.
“After counting, a total of 104 snakes were found.”
Five species of snakes were later identified – the milk snake, western hognose snake, corn snake, Texas rat snake and bullsnake – four of which are non-native to China. None of the species is venomous. The statement said the incident occurred “a few days ago,” but did not specify when.
The customs agency did not say if the man was arrested, but it warned that “if the regulations are violated, the customs will pursue legal liability in accordance with the law.”
In June, another man was arrested attempting to smuggle 454 endangered turtles from Macau to mainland China.