Suspicious that a package shipped from Hong Kong might contain smuggled animals, U. S. agents who opened the package found three live king cobra snakes
Suspicious that a package shipped from Hong Kong might contain smuggled animals, U. S. agents who opened the package found three live king cobra snakes inside, hidden in potato chip cans. The man who was to receive the package outside Los Angeles has been arrested on federal charges.
Rodrigo Franco, 34, could face 20 years in prison over a charge of illegally importing merchandise. U. S. officials accuse him of violating of the Endangered Species Act and falsifying records.
The package had been sent via the U. S. Postal Service. Each of the deadly king cobra snakes that were sent to Franco’s address were about two feet long, according to an affidavit filed in federal court. In addition to the venomous snakes, agents found three albino Chinese soft-shelled turtles when they opened the parcel on March 2.
Agents who searched the package removed the cobras but allowed the turtles to be delivered to Franco’s address the next day under controlled circumstances before carrying out a raid, the U. S. Attorney’s Office said in announcing the charges.
When agents from the FWS and Homeland Security executed a search warrant at Franco’s home, they found that the package had been left in what looked to be a child’s bedroom. There, more animals were found living in tanks, including a baby Morelet’s crocodile, two types of snapping turtles, and five terrapins.
Franco returned home while agents were at his apartment in Monterey Park; under questioning, he told them he had received 20 king cobras in two earlier shipments — and that they had died. But analysis of records on his phone led agents to believe at least some of those snakes had survived, as Franco had mentioned feeding them and delivering five snakes.
