Man stopped at customs with 100 live snakes down his pants

Hong Kong CNN —

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 traveling through Futian Port, a checkpoint between Hong Kong and mainland China, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

Five different species of snake were identified.

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 colors,” the statement said.

Photo taken June 13, 2020, shows an N700S shinkansen bullet train at JR Tokyo Station. The fully remodeled bullet train for the Tokaido shinkansen line, the first in 13 years, will commence commercial service on July 1 initially linking Tokyo with Osaka. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)

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“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.