Two passengers boarded a Vietjet flight from Bangkok to Taipei’s Taoyuan airport on Wednesday with at least 28 turtles, two otters, several rodents, a snake and a marmot, and were only caught when two of the animals managed to escape during the three-hour flight to Taiwan.
It’s surprising to think that the passengers thought they could get away with smuggling so many live animals on the same flight but it turns out that they were very nearly caught after their luggage was flagged for additional checks at Bangkok Airport.
Unfortunately, after flagging the bag during routine x-ray screening, a security officer at Suvarnabhumi airport failed to open the bag and the passengers were allowed to board the flight.
But once they were in the air, several of the animals, including an albino rat and a baby otter, managed to escape the bag and were spotted by other passengers in the cabin of Vietjet flight VZ564.
Cabin crew called on the owners to come forward and after some initial reluctance, one woman owned up to being responsible.
On arrival in Taiwan, the woman’s baggage was screened and a whole host of other animals were discovered in her checked bag.
It’s not known what the smugglers intended to do with the animals but Tawainese officials say the majority will need to be euthanized to comply with strict quarantine rules.
As for the security officer in Bangkok, local officials say the animals weren’t detected due to ‘human error’ and that disciplinary proceedings could follow.
