German customs officials intercepted a 45-year-old Mexican firefighter at Cologne Bonn Airport after finding more than 90 snakes and lizards hidden in his suitcase, according to reports.
Customs officers became suspicious of the passenger after noticing that he appeared nervous while walking through the airport's “nothing to declare” exit.
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Officials subjected the man to a drug test, which returned positive for cocaine. Although no drugs were found in his luggage, a subsequent inspection uncovered an assortment of reptiles concealed inside shampoo and cream bottles, plastic containers and balls of socks.
The haul included vipers, rattlesnakes, iguanas and other species of snakes and lizards. According to Jens Ahland, spokesman for the Cologne Customs office, the suitcase contained 37 live venomous snakes and 55 lizards.
“My colleagues at the airport are used to a lot when it comes to souvenirs in suitcases, but we've never had 37 live venomous snakes and 55 lizards from Mexico before,” Ahland was quoted as saying.
Some of the animals had been kept in inhumane conditions, while others died during the journey from Mexico City via Istanbul, officials said.
The man reportedly told officers that he had brought the animals back as a favour for a Brazilian acquaintance. He was denied entry to Germany and flown back to Istanbul.
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The surviving reptiles are being cared for at a snake farm in Germany.
German customs officials said authorities recorded more than 1,300 seizures nationwide last year involving over 56,600 protected animals, plants or products made from them.
The incident follows an earlier case at Cologne Bonn Airport in 2020, when customs officials found 26 rare reptiles, including 10 dead animals, concealed in parcels containing toys and sweets shipped from Mexico. The animals were destined for private buyers in Germany.
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