Man attempts to smuggle 104 snakes in his pants into mainland China

A man was caught at the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border trying to smuggle 104 live snakes in his pants, Chinese customs officials said on July 9.

The traveler, who claimed he had “nothing to declare,” was found with six canvas drawstring bags in his trousers filled with various exotic snakes, including corn snakes, milk snakes, western hognose snakes, Texas rat snakes and bullsnakes, four of which are non-native to China. While none of the reptiles were venomous, their presence violated strict biosecurity laws. The incident is also part of a larger trend of animal trafficking in China, which happens to be the world’s largest destination for illegal wildlife trade.