VIENNA: Vienna airport customs officers have rescued nearly 90 reptiles, principally geckos, crammed into containers inside a number of luggage, Austria´s finance ministry mentioned on Tuesday.
The animals — 85 geckos of varied species, two snakes and two scorpions — had been price some 47,000 euros ($51,000) in whole and located in three transport containers on Might 23, the ministry mentioned.
A 50-year-old Czech citizen is suspected of illegally transporting the animals on a flight from Addis Ababa to Vienna, it added.
When questioned, the person mentioned the reptiles had been “nugatory”, insisting he solely took the geckos to feed the snakes.