Two Indian women were busted in Bangkok’s main airport allegedly trying to smuggle 109 live animals in their luggage — including snakes, armadillos, porcupines and turtles.
The wild discovery was made on Monday at Suvarnabhumi Airport, where X-ray machines detected suspicious items inside two suitcases, Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said.
When security officials opened the bags, they found 50 lizards, 20 snakes, two white porcupines, two armadillos and 35 turtles.
The luggage containing the creepy-crawly contraband belonged to 38-year-old Nithya Raja and 24-year-old Zakia Sulthana Ebrahim, who were traveling to the Indian city of Chennai, according to Thai authorities speaking to Bangkok Post.
Both women were detained and charged with violating the country’s Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2019, the Animal Disease Act of 2015 and the Customs Act of 2017.
The agency did not say what the suspects were planning to do with the critters upon arriving at their destination, or what happened to the animals after they were rescued from the cramped suitcases.