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A man who is far braver and/or dumber than most people attempted to smuggle more than 100 live snakes through airport security by stuffing them inside his pants’ pockets.
In a not-so-surprising turn of events, it did not end well for him.
The unnamed man was, for some reason, trying to bring the snakes into China by breezing through the “nothing to declare” gate with the serpents in his pants.
According to CBS News, the man was stopped by customs officers as he was traveling from Hong Kong to the Chinese border city of Shenzhen.
“Upon inspection, customs officers discovered that the pockets of the trousers the passenger was wearing were packed with six canvas drawstring bags and sealed with tape,” the Chinese customs authority said in a statement.
“Once opened, each bag was found to contain living snakes in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colors.”
All in all, 104 snakes were seized, including several milk snakes and corn snakes.
BBC reports that China – one of the world’s biggest animal trafficking hubs – has strict biosecurity and disease control laws which forbids people from bringing non-native species into the country without permission.
“Those who break the rules will be… held liable in accordance with the law,” the customs authority added in its statement.
Last year, at the customs location in Shenzhen, a woman was busted trying to smuggle five snakes into the China that were hidden inside her bra.
In 2022, a man was indicted for trying to cross the United States-Canada border with three Burmese pythons in his pants. Customs and Border Protection Officers found the snakes in a small bag attached to his pants, near his inner thigh, CBS News reported.
Despite facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to three years, he was only given one year of probation and a $5,000 fine.