Subscribe our newsletter and get notifications to stay update
A man was arrested at a Tokyo airport after authorities discovered about 200 lizards stuffed inside 22 pairs of socks in his suitcase, according to reports.The 23-year-old man from Mexico arrived at Haneda Airport from South Korea on Aug.8 when customs officials found the reptiles hidden in his luggage, The Times of India reported.Authorities found the lizards packed into socks inside the suitcase.
One of the animals was already dead when the luggage was opened, according to the outlet.Among the reptiles were nine Mexican alligator lizards — an endangered species with restrictions on international trade, The Times of India reported.The man allegedly told investigators he bought the lizards in Mexico for roughly $3.50 to $4.70 each.Some of the reptiles can sell for around $630 each in Japan, according to reports.Keith Jeffries, vice president of K2 Security Screening Group and former federal security director at Los Angeles International Airport, told Fox News Digital that financial incentives can drive unusual smuggling attempts.“If there’s a market for it, people will attempt to smuggle it,” said Jeffries, who is based in Orlando.“We’ve seen this before many times,” he added.“It happens more frequently than any of us would like.”Airport screening procedures can vary depending on the agency involved and the types of prohibited items officers are tasked with finding, Jeffries said.In the United States, for example, TSA officers are primarily searching for items that could threaten aviation security, such as weapons and explosives, rather than conducting searches specifically for smuggled wildlife or drugs, he said.“The TSA security directives do not look for items from just a smuggling standpoint,” Jeffries said.
“They look for guns, knives, explosives, incendiary devices — and it’s very specific and narrow to that.”However, wildlife smuggling attempts are not unheard of, Jeffries added.During his time with TSA, he recalled cases...