One of the smuggled snakes rescued by the Customs officials at KIA in Bengaluru on Monday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Customs officials at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru rescued nine venomous snakes being smuggled from Bangkok in Thailand on Monday.

Based on a tip-off, the officials arrested Jagadisha Raman, 35, a mule, who picked up the luggage bag after arriving at the airport by Thai Airways and handed over the consignment to the receiver. The officials, by following the trial, nabbed both Jagadisha and his receiver red-handed at the exit point and recovered the bag. The bag contained nine live Wagler’s pit vipers, one common spotted cuscus, and one live oppossum concealed inside the cloth bags with tiny holes for breathing.

“Among them, Waglers’s pit vipers are venomous and deadly and do not have antidotes in India,” an official said.

Both Jagadisha and his receiver, a local businessman, were booked for endangering the safety of the passengers and crew. They were later remanded in judicial custody.

“The incident also brought to light the lack of security measures at the airport during a situation of national emergency. We are wondering how the accused managed to hoodwink the security checks in Thailand and Malaysia and brought the wildlife to Bengaluru,” an official said.

The incident also highlights the lack of coordination between different agencies, as despite the increasing number of such smuggling cases reported at the airport, no strict preventive measures have been taken, the official added.

In January this year, taking a serious note on the increasing incidents of wildlife smuggling, senior officials of the BIAL had written to the MD and CEO of Bangkok Airport, Thailand. Officials have contacted their counterparts in Thailand to return the rescued wildlife with the court permission.