Package of ‘toys’ held three scaly creatures being smuggled out of Australia, cops say

Aspen Pflughoeft

May 8, 2024 at 10:23 a.m.·1 min read

Border officials in Australia arrested a 19-year-old man after a cargo company found three scaly creatures in the process of being smuggled out of the country, police said.

A package marked “toys” was being shipped to Malaysia on Feb. 29 when a cargo company in Perth, Australia, opened it and found three lizards inside, the Australian Border Force said in a May 7 news release.

Border officials said the animals were likely being smuggled out of the country and going to be sold on “the lucrative international wildlife market.”

Police began investigating and, with the help of public tips, identified a 19-year-old Malaysian national as an “alleged lizard smuggler,” officials said.

The man was arrested in Perth and faces a charge of attempting to export “regulated native specimen(s),” police said.

Officers searched the man’s house and confiscated “a number of species of wildlife … including geckos, spiders and scorpions,” officials said.

A photo shows two lizards confiscated in connection with the case.

“This is an outstanding result, which quite possibly has prevented even more Australian wildlife being sent overseas for profit — a practice which is not only cruel but many of the animals smuggled this way sadly don’t survive the journey,” Chris Waters, an assistant commissioner with the border force, said in the release.

The 19-year-old appeared in court and was being held in custody, officials said.

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