uthorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle dozens of baby scorpions and seven vipers to Hong Kong through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten, West Java.
The airport's Agriculture Quarantine Agency (BBKP) head, Eliza Suryati, said on Thursday that the attempt was thwarted when officers at the Air Post Exchange Office on Wednesday noticed suspicious holes in a box filled with instant noodles.
"After noticing two holes in the box, the officers unloaded it and found seven vipers and baby scorpions inside 20 large straws," Eliza said, as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com.
"The officers also checked the sender address and found it was fake," she added.
The animals are currently at the BBKP's animal quarantine facility and are to be handed over to the Jakarta Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) or released into their habitat. (ecn)
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