DutchNews, September 6,
2016
One of the suitcases. Photo: NVWA.nl |
Three Spanish nationals have been arrested at Schiphol airport after
customs officials found 259 reptiles stuffed into four suitcases they were
carrying.
The haul included snakes, lizards and tortoises, 10 of which had died
during the journey. If they had been traded on the open market, the reptiles
would have had a value of some €80,000, officials said.
The three men were on
their way from Mexico to Spain when they were stopped at Schiphol. Many of the
reptiles in their bags were protected species, including 14 chucawallas, a
lizard found only on the Mexican island of San Esteban.
Last month, a German
man was arrested at Schiphol airport after customs officials found dozens of
snakes, lizards and other reptiles hidden in his suitcase.
The man was on his way
from South Africa to Germany to sell the animals at a reptile fair. Some 40
reptiles were stuffed in a plastic box in the suitcase and several had not
survived the journey.
And at the end of August, police and customs officers seized a record haul of illegal animal
products, including swordfish horns, mounted crocodiles and coral from five
storage units in North Brabant, together with €500,000 in cash and gold.
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