Garuda Airlines' Passenger Nabbed For Stuffing Snakes In Pants

By Azeman Ariffin JAKARTA, July 18 (Bernama) -- The Indonesian authorities have detained a foreign man who allegedly tried to smuggle snakes out of the country by stuffing 10 snakelets in his pants before he boarded a Jeddah-bound flight at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport here, on Sunday. The local media on Monday quoted Garuda Indonesia Corporate Communications vice president, Benny Sigar Butarbutar as saying the passenger, identified as Koufiah Jihad Zaki, was arrested after he had gone through a security check before boarding the plane. He said an airport security officer was shocked to find several snakes hidden in the man's pants and socks upon conducting an X-ray scan. "The suspect had wrapped the snakes that he wanted to take to Jeddah around both his legs," he said, adding that the 10 snakelets were of the python family. He said investigations revealed that Koufiah was trying to smuggle the live snakes out of the country for business purposes in Saudi Arabia. Benny, however, did not reveal the nationality of the suspect. He said the man was now in police custody to facilitate investigations. Benny said Koufiah had committed a serious offense as he could have caused a danger to the flight and that the international aviation regulations had prohibited passengers from bringing in any animal onboard. --BERNAMA