Two Romanian women were arrested on London’s Heathrow airport after they were found carrying 13 ‘incredibly rare’ iguanas in their luggage. The 24 and 26 – year old Romanians had wrapped the iguanas in socks, and only 12 survived the trip.
They were bringing the San Salvador rock iguanas from the Bahamas to Dusseldorf, in Germany, according to the BBC.
These iguanas live in the Bahamas and are classified as critically
endangered. Only several hundreds of them are believed to still exist in the world, which makes the airport seizure a remarkable and important one, said Grant Miller from the Border Force’s endangered species team, according to the BBC.
“Given the circumstances we found them in it seems incredible that all but one survived such a long flight,” he added.
The iguanas were dehydrated and are currently supervised by a specialist vet. The lizards are so rare that they cost around GBP 150 each on the black market, according to British media.
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Two Romanians arrested in London for smuggling 13 very rare San …
Thirteen "incredibly rare" iguanas that had been stuffed into socks by smugglers have been seized by a customs team at Heathrow Airport.
The endangered lizards were found in a suitcase at Terminal Five on Monday when officers stopped two Romanian women who had arrived from the Bahamas.
They were due to take the San Salvador rock iguanas on to Dusseldorf, Germany, border officials said.
Each was wrapped in a sock and 12 had survived the journey.
The two women, aged 24 and 26, were arrested on suspicion of importation offences.
