Thursday, August 16, 2007

Snakes On a Plane

It is reported in Cairo, Egypt that a man was stopped at the airport just before he tried to board a plane heading to Saudi-Arabia. He had carry-on bags that were filled with live snakes and a few baby crocodiles and chameleons.

Airport security became suspicious of the man when the X-ray machine at the departure gate gave odd readings. Police opened the bags and found a large number of reptiles, including a cobra, trying to escape. The animals were confiscated and given to the Cairo zoo and the man was allowed to board his flight.

Transporting live reptiles out of the country is illegal in Egypt, but the man said he wasn't aware of that and the snakes, crocodiles,and chameleons were needed by a Saudi-Arabia university for scientific experiments.

Back in May another Saudi-Arabian man was caught in the Cairo airport trying to transport 700 live snakes in his luggage. He told the authorities that snakes were often kept by store keepers in glass jars in Saudi-Arabia or used as pets.

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