Hidden inside plastic containers in her luggage, the haul included four baby anacondas, iguanas, bearded dragons, tortoises, turtles, lizards, and raccoons.
Mumbai Customs officers intercepted a Thane-based woman at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for attempting to smuggle 154 exotic animals.
Hidden inside plastic containers in her luggage, the haul included four baby anacondas, iguanas, bearded dragons, tortoises, turtles, lizards, and raccoons. This marks the first time in at least five years that baby anacondas, a foreign snake species, have been seized at Mumbai Airport.
The seized species are protected under international laws, including CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), as well as the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Following the seizure, wildlife rescue experts from the Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) were called in to safely handle, stabilise, and provide medical care to the animals.