I have had it with these mother fu*king snakes, in these mother fu*king socks, on this mother fu*king plane.
Officers had been watching the shore of the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall, Ont., from outside a nearby church for most of the day when the boat carrying the contraband finally arrived.
On the other side of the river, a U.S. border control helicopter had hovered in wait to follow it across, but then taken off when the vessel dawdled to avoid tipping off its operators. But now the boat was here, and the van they were monitoring pulled up to the river bank.
In a matter of minutes, a woman on the boat unloaded three boxes that were soon placed in the van by a man.
That was the cue. As they swooped in on the stunned smugglers -- prompting the woman to nosedive onto the boat and sail away -- the officers seized the boxes.
Inside were 205 reptiles, among them Chinese striped turtles, African side neck turtles, South American red-footed tortoises, a serrated hinge-back tortoise, green iguanas and Jackson's chameleons.
And many, if not all of them, were bound for pet stores, according to Environment Canada, which led the investigation and laid charges against the man and some of his associates.
Animals such as chameleons, parrots, monkeys and tigers are prized as pets precisely because they are not native to Canada, and often because they are rare or unusual, experts say.
Some are bred by owners already on Canadian soil -- at times discreetly, for more uncommon or potentially dangerous animals -- but others are snatched from their natural habitats and snuck across borders under car seats, in shipping containers with false bottoms, and even in the mail, often leaving the creatures in dire health or worse, they say.
Reptiles, experts say, are common contraband. In one notorious case, a Waterloo, Ont., man was caught smuggling dozens of turtles in his pants (is that a turtle in your pants, or?) and is now serving a 57-month sentence in an American prison. Cont.
Story from - CTV News
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