U.S. border officers discovered that a man was trying to smuggle 52 reptiles into his clothes. According to AP News.
According to a recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection statement, the man — a U.S. citizen — was driving a truck and was pulled over for additional inspection after arriving at the San Ysidro border crossing.
The statement said that there were 52 live reptiles — nine snakes and 43 horned lizards — inside small bags, “which were concealed in the man’s jacket, pants pockets, and groin area.”
According to authorities, some of the reptiles discovered were endangered and the man aged 30 was taken into custody.
“Smugglers will try every possible way to try and get their product, or in this case live reptiles, across the border,”Sidney Aki is the Customs and Border Protection field operations director in San Diego.
“In this occasion, the smuggler attempted to deceive CBP officers in order to bring these animals into the US, without taking care for the health and safety of the animals.”