14 DAY TRIAL // Police officers and customs officials in the United Kingdom have announced that, just recently, a total of 13 very rare iguanas were found hidden inside as many socks at Heathrow Airport.
Information shared with the public says that the animals were tucked away inside a suitcase, and that they were almost surely intended for the black market.
According to Daily Mail, the suitcase in which the 13 San Salvador rock iguanas were found belonged to two Romanian women, who were arrested while trying to enter the country upon arrival from a trip to the Bahamas.
By the looks of it, the United Kingdom was not these smugglers’ last stop.
On the contrary, the women were planning to catch another flight to Germany, and sell the reptiles to rare pets enthusiasts in this country for about ₤150 (roughly €181 / $244.5) each.
Needless to say, the 13 iguanas were seized by customs officials shortly after having been discovered. They are now looked after by a vet, who is taking care of getting them hydrated and back in shape.
Unfortunately, one of the reptiles did not survive the journey from their native lands to the United Kingdom, and was already dead when police officers pulled it out of its sock.
“This particular species of iguana is incredibly rare - only a few hundred are believed to be left in existence - so this was a remarkable and very important seizure,” Grant Miller with the Border Force's endangered species team told the press.
“Given the circumstances we found them in it seems incredible that all but one survived such a long flight,” he went on to argue.
San Salvador rock iguanas are currently listed as a critically endangered species. Thus, it is estimated that some 400 – 600 such animals are left in the wild. Consequently, existing laws ban people from taking them from the Bahamas and selling them as pets.