Cameroonian Customs have apprehended a national and his Nigerian counterpart for attempting to smuggle 80 cobras and vipers to London.
According to ekohotblog.com, the two men were arrested the customs officials while trying to board a commercial flight to London with the reptiles.
The suspects, a Cameroonian national and a Nigerian, were arrested early Friday at the airport in the country’s commercial hub Douala for using fake papers to get their cargo out, customs service spokesman Jean-Claude Ekoube told AFP.
The reptiles were being transported in wooden boxes marked “Venomous”. The men were booked on an Air France flight to London via Paris.
While being questioned, the men said the boxes contained animals.
The customs officials consequently asked to see the documents authorizing him to travel out of the country with the reptiles.
After declaring that he captured the animals in Buea, South West region of Cameroon, the man purportedly presented a false authorization given him by the Ministry of Forestry and Wild Life. The reptiles were seized and he and the said customs clearance officer accompanying him arrested.