Passenger caught smuggling 100 live snakes in his trousers at Chinese airport

In a shocking yet bizarre incident in China, a passenger was caught attempting to smuggle over 100 live snakes by hiding them inside his trousers, the country's customs department said on Tuesday.

According to a report by AFP, the unidentified passenger was intercepted by customs officials at the airport in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, as he tried to board a flight to Shenzhen.

"Upon inspection, customs officers discovered that the pockets of the trousers the passenger was wearing were packed with six canvas drawstring bags and sealed with tape,” the statement said.

To their surprise, each bag contained dozens of live snakes of different sizes and species, totaling 104 snakes, most of which were non-local species.

“Once opened, each bag was found to contain living snakes in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colours,” it added.

It should be noted that China is one of the largest centres of animal trafficking in the world, however, the authorities have been cracking down on illegal smuggling over the years.

The customs authority has warned that those who violate the rules will be punished according to law, without specifying the punishment for the detained passenger.