Customs officers have arrested an Austrian man who smuggled 88 living reptiles including 43 poisonous snakes from the Philippines.
According to Austria’s Finance Ministry, he was stopped at Vienna airport, while coming from Doha, the capital and most populous city of the State of Qatar.
The officers screened his suitcase and saw that it was full of animals before transferring it to Vienna’s Schoenbrunn Zoo, where experts opened it.
Snakes found in the case include Samar cobras, Mangrove snakes and vipers, as well as dozens of monitor lizards and geckos.
After being questioned, he said that he had planned to sell the reptiles at in Germany.
The zoo in Vienna and Austrian reptile zoo agreed to take in the animals.
Headtopics.com said the man will face legal proceedings for alleged breach of Austria’s law regulation trade in protected species.
