Buzz
Some people have an undeniable obsession with owning strange, exotic creatures—and they’re willing to pay a hefty price for them. The global market for these rare animals is valued at an astonishing $40 billion annually. While many of these transactions follow regulations and ensure the animals' safety, there are others who resort to illegal methods, smuggling animals across borders to maximize profits.
Animal smugglers often resort to creative and bizarre methods to sneak their cargo past authorities. Here are ten of the most unusual attempts—and these are just the ones that were caught.
10. A Snake in Your Pants?
While not everyone’s idea of a cuddly companion, snakes are still highly sought-after pets. One man, determined to smuggle 104 live snakes from Hong Kong to mainland China, decided that paperwork and customs declarations were simply too much trouble. His solution? Hide the wriggling reptiles down his trousers and hope no one noticed.
Using specially designed pockets lined with multiple bags, the man discreetly slipped the 104 snakes into his trousers and walked confidently toward his destination. Even though he passed through the "Nothing to Declare" gate, something about his squirming pants caught the attention of officials, who decided to investigate further. That’s when the man’s attempt to smuggle snakes was uncovered.
As this incident took place in July 2024, it's unclear what punishment the man may face or what his intentions were with the snakes in China. Perhaps he was hoping to use them as emotional support reptiles?
9. A Feathered Smuggler
After a lengthy flight from Asia, Sony Dong arrived at Los Angeles International Airport likely feeling the usual effects of jet lag—tired, stiff, and irritable. But it wasn't his fatigue that caught the attention of customs officers. Upon inspection, feathers could be seen poking out from the bottom of his pants, and what appeared to be bird droppings were found on his socks. When his clothes were removed, authorities discovered over a dozen songbirds strapped to his legs.
Each of the songbirds was estimated to be worth several hundred dollars. When Sony's home was later raided, more illegally imported birds were found. For his actions, Sony was sentenced to four months in prison in 2010. However, this did not deter him from continuing his smuggling activities. In 2018, Sony was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after being caught waiting for a courier with 30 birds hidden in a suitcase at the same airport.
8. Chirping Bag
Smuggling live animals can be tricky, especially when they make noise and attract attention. For Szu Ta Wu, smuggling parrot eggs into the U.S. seemed like a more subtle plan. Eggs are silent and don’t move, making them a much easier option. However, the situation took an unexpected turn when the eggs hatched. The chirping of the baby birds caught the ears of vigilant customs officers.
The eggs were illegally taken from nests in Central America and were carefully transported in a temperature-controlled bag to Miami in 2023. The smugglers clearly intended for the eggs to hatch successfully, but they didn’t account for them hatching prematurely. When the bag was opened, it contained 30 eggs and baby parrots. The chicks were carefully nurtured by hand at a specialist center to ensure their survival.
Wu faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for his attempt to smuggle the birds into the country illegally.
7. Fish Skirts
Who says animal smuggling can’t be fashionable? When Sharon Naismith strutted through Melbourne after arriving from Singapore, she must have felt confident. She was sporting a stylish skirt and likely expected to make a significant profit from what she was concealing beneath it. However, Customs officers became suspicious when they heard “flipping” sounds coming from Naismith’s waist.
Upon inspection, it was revealed that Naismith was wearing a custom apron with multiple pockets. Inside these pockets were plastic bags filled with tropical fish. In total, fifty-one fish were found hidden in her unconventional outfit, and Naismith was charged with multiple offenses. Australia has strict regulations when it comes to the import of non-native species.
Despite the possibility of serving up to ten years in prison, Naismith received a sentence of 9 months of community service for attempting to commit a fashionable crime.
6. Tortoise or Cake?
For a time, the internet was captivated by cakes crafted to resemble nearly anything other than cake. This trend may have inspired a German smuggler to think he could slip past customs when returning from Morocco in 2019.
When the man was stopped and his bags were searched, a box of high-end pastries was found. Inside, he insisted, were nothing but incredibly lifelike tortoise cakes. These chocolate-covered creatures appeared so realistic that they even seemed to be moving. However, the customs officers weren’t deceived and confronted him with the truth: he was attempting to smuggle endangered Moroccan tortoises into Germany.
It’s unclear what penalty the cake-loving smuggler faced, but the tortoises were freed from their box and taken to a rescue center where they could be cared for.
5. Otter in Underwear
While many might opt for baggy clothes during a flight for comfort, one man had a different motive in 2023. He wore loose pants to hide something unusual. Authorities at Bangkok’s airport noticed a suspiciously large bulge and decided to investigate before letting him board his flight to Taipei. Inside his pants, they found three socks, each concealing a live animal.
The 22-year-old explained that he had bought two short-clawed otters and one prairie dog at a market. The otters, an endangered species, should only be cared for by trained professionals involved in conservation. Stuffing them into socks and hiding them in your pants clearly isn’t the best approach to animal care.
4. Snakes in a Bra
In 2023, a woman disembarked from a ferry traveling from Hong Kong to China and attempted to pass through customs without attracting attention to her chest. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful, prompting officials to inspect what was hidden in her bra. Inside, they found five snakes, cleverly wrapped in stockings to disguise them and smuggle them into the country. However, this bra-based snake smuggling attempt wasn't the most remarkable of its kind.
In 1995, customs officers in Sweden became suspicious of a woman who appeared to be scratching her chest excessively. Upon searching her, they discovered 65 baby grass snakes hidden inside her bra. She also had a number of lizards around her waist. When interrogated, the woman explained that her intention was to start a snake farm.
3. Pregnant with a Monkey
One of the cardinal rules of animal smuggling is to keep your success quiet and avoid bragging. Gypsy Lawson, however, seemed unaware of this basic principle when she managed to sneak a rhesus monkey into the United States from Thailand in 2007.
It seems that Lawson and her mother devised a ridiculous plan to smuggle the monkey through customs by pretending that Lawson was pregnant and hiding the sedated animal beneath her shirt. It was a scheme straight out of a poorly scripted sitcom, but surprisingly, it worked, and the monkey was soon living in her home. Lawson might have gotten away with it if she hadn't shared the story with a worker at a clothing store. The worker reported her to the authorities, and a raid at Lawson's house uncovered the monkey, along with journals that detailed the crime and experiments conducted to find the right sedatives to keep the monkey subdued during the journey.
As a consequence, Lawson and her mother were sentenced to 60 days in jail, fined, and assigned community service for their role in the smuggling operation.
2. Monkey Girdle
How many monkeys can one conceal on their body before it raises suspicions? For Roberto Sol Cabrera, the answer was just shy of 18. Upon arriving in Mexico City in 2010 from Peru, authorities noticed Cabrera's unusual nervous behavior. Upon inspecting his clothes, they found a girdle, and strapped to it were 18 Titi monkeys stuffed inside socks for transport.
Initially, Cabrera explained that he did this to protect the monkeys from being exposed to X-rays in his luggage. Unfortunately, his good intentions were in vain, as two of the monkeys died before he was apprehended. His plan to profit from selling the monkeys in Mexico was thwarted when the authorities confiscated them.
1. Tiger in a Suitcase
In the United Kingdom, there have been several instances where police responded to reports of a tiger on the loose, only to find it was just a stuffed toy. One smuggler in Bangkok hoped to take advantage of this confusion when they attempted to board a flight to Iran. Inside their luggage, they claimed to have a toy tiger.
However, when the bag passed through the x-ray machine, the officers were suspicious, as stuffed toys typically don't have bones. Upon opening the bag, they discovered a sedated tiger cub hidden inside. The smuggler was promptly arrested, and the cub was taken to be cared for. It recovered from the experience and investigations were launched to determine if the cub had been taken from the wild or bred in captivity.
