Transport Security Administration (TSA) officials in the US usually have a pretty straightforward job, intercepting firearms, flammable materials, and drugs from passengers.
But one particular flier caught them by surprise this week.
TSA officials at Miami International Airport caught a woman this week who was apparently planning to illegally smuggle a snake on board a flight to Barbados. The female passenger was prevented from boarding the flight after they discovered a ball python among her belongings.
The kicker is that it was inside her external hard drive and was, for some inexplicable reason, ensconced in a nylon stocking.
Image courtesy: Transport Security Administration (TSA)
The snake itself wasn¡¯t dangerous, considering ball pythons are non-venomous and generally sober creatures. However, you can imagine the havoc it would have caused on board a flight had it gotten loose among surprised passengers, not to mention the fact that it¡¯s not legal anyway. The US Fish and Wildlife Service was called in to retrieve the snake and the woman has been fined for her attempted smuggling.
But it¡¯s not even the first time someone¡¯s attempted to sneak snakes on board specifically Miami planes. Local reports show that a tried his hand at smuggling multiple snakes and turtles on board a plane in 2011, by strapping them to his body. The same year, another woman tried to sneak her snake onto a flight by stuffing it in her bra.
Yeah, ¡®Snakes on a Plane¡¯ doesn¡¯t sound so far-fetched now does it?