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6th June 2025
10:25am BST
The Indian citizen was returning home from Thailand when he was stopped by customs officials at the Mumbai airport on Sunday (June 1).
The passenger, who has not been named, was taken into custody and has not yet commented on the situation.
The snakes have been taken hold of under various wildlife protection laws in India.
Customs officials shared they had seized three spider-tailed horned vipers, five Asian leaf turtles and 44 Indonesian pit vipers from the passenger in a post on X.
India's wildlife protection doesn't allow just any animals into the country.
Species classified as endangered or protected by the government will be seized at customs.
However, for the animals that are allowed into the country, passengers will need to have the required permits and licenses before importing any wildlife.
Attempts of passengers trying to smuggle wildlife into India aren't uncommon.
According to The Times of India, Indian authorities arrested a Canadian man at the Delhi airport for carrying a crocodile skull in his luggage.
Only a month later, officials at the Mumbai airport caught a passenger carrying five baby Siamang gibbons, small apes native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, in a trolley bag, per the Deccan Herald.
According to The Indian Express, Passengers returning from Bangkok were arrested for carrying 12 exotic turtles.
Moreover, in 2019 officials at the Chennai airport seized a horned pit viper snake, five Iguanas, four blue-tongued skinks, three green tree frogs and 22 Egyptian tortoises from a man travelling from Thailand, per BBC News.
