Mexican firefighter stopped at Cologne Bonn Airport with 37 venomous snakes and 55 lizards

Mixed · 2Customs officials at Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany stopped a 45-year-old Mexican man who was carrying 37 live venomous snakes and 55 lizards in his luggage. 1 2 Mixed · 2Officials said the man, a firefighter whom authorities did not name, looked "nervous" as he tried to leave through the green exit, which is for travellers with nothing to declare. 1 2 Mixed · 2A drug test on him came back positive for cocaine, but a search of his suitcase found no drugs. 1 2

Mixed · 2The animals, which included vipers, rattlesnakes and lizards such as iguanas, were hidden in shampoo and cream bottles, plastic containers and balls of socks. 1 2 Mixed · 2The man had flown from Mexico City via Istanbul. He told officers he had brought the animals as a favour for a Brazilian acquaintance. 1 2 Mixed · 2Some animals died on the journey. Arab News, citing customs officials speaking to AFP, said about 30 died during and after the trip. The BBC said some were kept "in inhumane conditions", according to customs spokesman Jens Ahland. 2 1

Mixed · 2The surviving animals are being cared for at a snake farm in Germany. 1 2 Mixed · 2German authorities denied the man entry and flew him back to Istanbul. Arab News said this happened the day after he arrived. 1 2 Mixed · 2Ahland said the case showed "sheer greed for profit" and called it distressing. The BBC added that German customs made over 1,300 seizures last year involving more than 56,600 protected animals, plants or products made from them. It also noted a 2020-era case in which 26 rare reptiles from Mexico, 10 of them dead, were found at the same airport. 2 1