A 23-year-old man was arrested at Tokyo's Haneda Airport after customs officials found approximately 200 lizards concealed within 22 pairs of socks in his suitcase. The man had arrived from South Korea on August 8.
Among the reptiles were nine Mexican alligator lizards, a species listed as endangered with restrictions on international trade. One lizard was found dead when the luggage was searched. The man reportedly told investigators that he purchased the lizards in Mexico for about $3.50 to $4.70 each, with the potential to sell them for around $630 each in Japan.
Financial incentives can drive smugglers to attempt unusual methods of transporting goods, according to Keith Jeffries, vice president of K2 Security Screening Group and former federal security director at Los Angeles International Airport. "If there’s a market for it, people will attempt to smuggle it," Jeffries told Fox News Digital. "We’ve seen this before many times."
Airport screening procedures are designed to detect items posing aviation security threats, such as weapons or explosives, rather than specifically targeting smuggled wildlife or drugs, Jeffries explained. He noted that U.S. TSA security directives are narrowly focused on preventing immediate threats to aviation. However, wildlife smuggling is not uncommon. Jeffries recalled past incidents involving exotic turtles and nearly 100 exotic birds discovered in checked luggage.
This incident follows a separate seizure at a U.S. airport weeks prior, where a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture detector dog alerted officers to a suitcase containing nearly 100 pounds of prohibited items. The suitcase, arriving from Thailand, held meat, plants, and approximately 16 pounds of Bengal monitor lizard. CBP agriculture specialists examine international luggage for items that could introduce pests, animal diseases, or invasive species into the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took custody of the monitor lizard from that case.