US Customs and Border Protection officials stopped an important contraband attempt in the San Ysidro port of entry and this time it didn’t involve drugs, but 52 reptiles.

These were found tied in small bags and hidden inside and under the man’s clothing while he tried to cross the US border. The incident occurred around 3 AM on February 25.

Despite this, this has only been revealed in their official webpage on Tuesday, March 8. Likewise, they shared that the detainee is an American citizen that is 30 years old, that drove a GMC 2018 truck while he was crossing the San Ysidro border.

According to what was once shared, CBP official sent the driver and the vehicle for secondary inspection. During this test, a personal search was carried out and CBP officials found several bags of live animals.

There they found 52 bags of reptiles, later identified as 43 horned lizards and nine snakes, which were hidden in his jackets, pockets, and the man’s groin area.

“Smugglers will try all kinds of possible things to cross the border with their product, in this case, live reptiles,” said Sidney Aki, Operations Director of San Diego’s CBP.

Furthermore, Aki stated that the smuggler tried to fool CBP officials to bring these animals in without worrying about their condition, and also stated that one of CBP’s main jobs is to stop these smuggling attempts, since the animals trafficked could be in risk of extinction.

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