By Tim Binnall
An Indian man returning home from a trip to Thailand found himself in trouble with the law when airport officials searched his bag and discovered a staggering 47 venomous vipers stuffed in his luggage. The bizarre bust reportedly occurred this past Sunday as the unnamed suspect passed through customs at an airport in Mumbai. Before being allowed to reenter the country, the man was selected to have his checked luggage searched, leading to authorities finding a veritable menagerie of rare reptiles he had attempted to smuggle home with him.
Slithering around in the man's bag alongside three Asian leaf turtles were a whopping 44 Indonesian pit vipers and three spider-tailed horned vipers. Since transporting such endangered or threatened species into India in a clandestine manner is understandably illegal, all of the contraband creatures were seized by customs officials. While it is uncertain what sort of penalty the would-be smuggler might face, at the very least he should be commended for checking the suspicious bag rather than carrying it aboard the aircraft, since the misadventure could have turned disastrous had the venomous vipers managed to escape mid-flight.