Man caught smuggling over 100 snakes in his trousers at Hong Kong-Shenzhen border

A man crossing the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border on July 9, 2024, was caught smuggling six canvas bags filled with 104 live snakes. The bags were sealed with adhesive tape and concealed in the pocket of his trousers. All of the five snake species identified in the bags were foreign to China. The Hong Kong-Shenzhen border is a major transit hub for smuggling illegal wildlife, with the Global Organised Crime index citing Hong Kong’s “weak traceability systems”.