Free Republic

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - When it comes to smuggling animals across the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Wildlife Inspector Ed Marshall has seen it all. Exotic birds given Valium or tequila so they stay quiet through Customs inspections. Sleeves moving with hidden reptiles. Wildcats stashed in trunks. Last week, the Border Patrol seized two white tigers on their way to Mexico. And in 2001, an African elephant was smuggled across the Gateway International Bridge on a truck. "They call it the 'Dumbo Case,'" Marshall said, shaking his head. The contraband is part of a global trade in endangered wildlife estimated by the U.S....

A smuggler who filled his trousers with rare snakes was caught when he landed at Prague airport because customs officers spotted them wriggling. The man had pulled his trousers tight tying them with string and tucked the legs into his socks after hiding the snakes inside. But his appearance alerted customs officers who arrested the man when he landed in the Czech capital after a flight from Africa. The 23-year-old man was also found to have scorpions and beetles in his luggage, local media reported.