BENGALURU: Customs officials at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Wednesday night found 78 endangered animals smuggled in baggage from an AirAsia flight that landed in the city from Bangkok.
A senior Customs official said no one came forward to claim the baggage.
“The animals were found in unclaimed baggage from the flight which arrived at 10:30 pm on Wednesday. A young woman and her accomplice, both Indian nationals, on board the flight are primary suspects. They managed to escape. We are checking the CCTV footage and have sought details of passengers from AirAsia.”
A press release said, “In all, 78 animals, including 55 ball pythons and 17 king cobras were found alive. Six capuchin monkeys were found dead.” The animals were seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962.
The dead monkeys were disposed of with proper sanitary measures, while the snakes were deported to its country of origin. On August 21, 234 wild animals, including pythons, turtles, alligators, chameleons, iguanas and a dead kangaroo were found in two trolley bags by Airport Customs officials.