Snakes, star tortoise among hundreds of smuggled exotic animals seized at airport, two arrested by DRI

MUMBAI: The DRI has arrested two people for allegedly smuggling exotic animals through air cargo at Mumbai airport. They were trying to smuggle almost 665 exotic animals which included star tortoises, iguanas, rare species of turtles, fishes and lizards. Immanvel Raja, a native of Dharavi, who delivered the animals, and Victor Lobo, a native of Madgaon, the buyer, were arrested.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said that this was the biggest exotic animal smuggling attempt in the country. The air cargo arrived from Malaysia in 30 boxes. The exotic animals were worth Rs 3 crore. Out of a total of 665 animals, 117 died during transit.