Written & Edited By : Aditi Mishra
23 August 2023 ( New Delhi ) : According to media sources, an AirAsia traveler was detained after his suitcase was discovered to contain more than 230 live reptiles, including a deceased baby kangaroo. At Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport, customs officials looked through the 32-year-old’s bags. According to sources, he was taking Thai AirAsia aircraft FD 137 from Bangkok to Bengaluru.
According to reports, the baby kangaroo suffocated to death. In addition, he was accused of smuggling 234 reptiles, including turtles, snakes, lizards, cobras, crocodiles, and tortoises.
“There was what appeared to be a little dog in one of the crates. When we unzipped it, we were shocked to see a newborn kangaroo hidden inside. Sadly, it had suffocated to death within the luggage.
A fast arrest led to the discovery of further species in his suitcase that were alive and had been safely handed over to the forest department. The suspect admitted to Customs during questioning that he was unaware of the bag’s contents and that it had been delivered to him in Bangkok with instructions to bring it to Bengaluru. An sophisticated attempt to smuggle 306 live exotic animals into India via air cargo was successfully prevented by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on July 1, an official had claimed, as reported by ANI. Several endangered species, such as turtles, tortoises, crabs, alligator gar, and stingrays, were among the confiscated creatures.
At Air Cargo Mumbai, attempts were made to smuggle endangered animals into India in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) by hiding them under different species of ornamental fish. They claimed that these protected species were hidden by wildlife smugglers as other types of ornamental fish.
