A man tried to smuggle more than 100 live snakes into mainland China by stuffing them in his trousers, according to custom officials.
The unnamed traveller was stopped after passing through the “nothing to declare” gate at the crossing between semi-autonomous Hong Kong and the city of Shenzhen, officials said.
Upon inspection, he had 104 snakes in “six canvas drawstring bags” inside his trousers, a statement from China Customs said.
“Each bag was found to contain living snakes in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colours,” it added.
Video released by Chinese customs shows a pair of agents peering into transparent plastic bags filled with live red, pink and white snakes.
They were mostly small, but it is a large and squirmy haul of slithering reptiles for anyone to carry in their trousers.
Strict biosecurity and disease control laws forbid people from bringing in non-native species without permission into the country.
“Those who break the rules will be… held liable in accordance with the law,” the customs authority said, without specifying the man’s punishment.
In 2023 at the same crossing point, a woman was stopped trying to smuggle in five snakes hidden inside her bra.
China is one of the world’s biggest animal trafficking hubs and authorities have been cracking down on the shady trade in recent years.
The commission read reports from referee Robert Jones and fourth official Anthony Taylor, who said Nuno and Gibbs-White swore at them following the midfielder's
Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon has signed a new long-term deal with the Premier League club.The 23-year-old has scored 15 goals and created 11 assists in 74 ap
Xavi Hernandez has emerged as a contender to replace Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager after holding two rounds of talks with the club, according to rep
Five-time Premier League winner Patrice Evra says the future at Manchester United is "not bright", with his old club having been "in a chaos" for more than a de