Hundreds of exotic animals were found in the backpack of a Russian returning home from South Africa in transit via Ethiopia. They are now receiving veterinary care. press office Domodedovo customs.
A Russian citizen returned from a trip abroad with numerous representatives of the African fauna. He carried the animals in plastic containers, which he hid in a tourist backpack.
The man was walking down the “green” corridor when he was stopped by customs officers. An interesting cargo appeared in the examination of the passenger trunk. In containers, 14 dwarf chameleons, 5 panther toads, an African flat-headed mabuya, as well as woodlice, giant centipedes, painted snails, horned mushroom beetle, marzipan cockroach, psammodas – a rare insect from the hard-winged family insects found only in the Cape of Good Hope and Other inhabitants of the wilderness of Africa.
During transportation, not all of them managed to survive due to a sharp change in temperature and improper transportation.
The detained citizen said that he was hunting in South Africa and would keep his prey in the terrarium of his house. But customs officers managed to establish that the man plans to sell them on social networks.
According to some estimates, the customs value of the cargo was 200 thousand rubles, according to the law more than 50 thousand rubles had to be paid for animals.
As a result of the examination, it was understood that Western dwarf chameleon lizards are generally subject to mandatory written declaration with the condition of permission. In addition, a link was found between this violation and a similar incident of detention at another airport in the capital in December 2022. Then, under similar circumstances, investigators stopped a woman with 150 animals brought from the Philippines.
Currently, captured animals remain in the custody of animal rights activists, they are provided with veterinary care and appropriate care.
The man became a defendant in an administrative lawsuit for non-declaration of goods. Expert reviews have now been assigned to the case and verification activities are ongoing.
In February, from the material evidence warehouse in Orenburg 299 skins of rare North American lynx lost.