Man jailed for smuggling eight snakes in trousers
A Swedish tourist who tried to smuggle eight baby snakes, four of which were venomous king cobras, into Australia in his trousers has been jailed for two months.
Per Johan Adolfsson, 28, was sentenced in Sydney's Central Local Court for importing an endangered species and making a false and misleading statement.
Adolfsson was searched by customs officers at Sydney Airport on September 22, after arriving from Bangkok on a Thai Airways flight.
They found four venomous baby king cobras and four baby emerald tree boas strapped to his legs in homemade pouches. The cobras had died during the nine-hour flight, but the boas survived.
Adolfsson's lawyer, Michael Priddis, said his client had bought the snakes for 1,500 Australian dollars (US$1,000) from a professional breeder. It was not clear whether the snakes were bought in Thailand or Sweden.
"It was a very haphazard, small-scale, and amateurish operation," said Priddis. "He is not part of a smuggling ring."
Priddis said Adolfsson, a glass worker and window fitter, had been suffering depression and alcohol abuse following an injury at work in Sweden.
He had planned to sell the snakes in Australia for A$5,000 (US3,500) to fund an eight-day holiday and lift his spirits.
"It is a bizarre way to have a holiday," Priddis told the court.
Magistrate Paul Macmahon said the court took such offences seriously because exotic animals could bring into Australia sickness that could devastate local wildlife.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_831245.html
A Swedish tourist who tried to smuggle eight baby snakes, four of which were venomous king cobras, into Australia in his trousers has been jailed for two months.
Per Johan Adolfsson, 28, was sentenced in Sydney's Central Local Court for importing an endangered species and making a false and misleading statement.
Adolfsson was searched by customs officers at Sydney Airport on September 22, after arriving from Bangkok on a Thai Airways flight.
They found four venomous baby king cobras and four baby emerald tree boas strapped to his legs in homemade pouches. The cobras had died during the nine-hour flight, but the boas survived.
Adolfsson's lawyer, Michael Priddis, said his client had bought the snakes for 1,500 Australian dollars (US$1,000) from a professional breeder. It was not clear whether the snakes were bought in Thailand or Sweden.
"It was a very haphazard, small-scale, and amateurish operation," said Priddis. "He is not part of a smuggling ring."
Priddis said Adolfsson, a glass worker and window fitter, had been suffering depression and alcohol abuse following an injury at work in Sweden.
He had planned to sell the snakes in Australia for A$5,000 (US3,500) to fund an eight-day holiday and lift his spirits.
"It is a bizarre way to have a holiday," Priddis told the court.
Magistrate Paul Macmahon said the court took such offences seriously because exotic animals could bring into Australia sickness that could devastate local wildlife.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_831245.html
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