Sri Lankan caught with three pythons in his pants at Bangkok airport

Thailand’s Wildlife Crime Intelligence Centre detained a Sri Lankan male at Suvarnabhumi International Airport on July 2, for attempting to smuggle three pythons out of the country in his underwear.

Polwee Buchakiat, director of the Wildlife Crime Intelligence Centre, revealed that the suspect, identified only as “Shenan”, arrived in Bangkok on July 1 from Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The centre had received a tip-off from Thai wildlife protection units and foreign agencies, informing them that Shenan had previously been involved in trafficking various wildlife species, including wolves, meerkats, black cockatoos, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, ball pythons, iguanas, frogs, salamanders and turtles.

He was also arrested in Colombo in 2024 for a wildlife-related offense.

This operation was supported by international organisations, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

After Shenan checked in at Suvarnabhumi Airport, at around 7pm on July 2, he was selected for x-ray screening. Officials also searched his large suitcase, but found no contraband.

During a body search, however, they discovered three ball pythons (Python regius), a species protected under CITES Appendix II, concealed in his underwear.

He was detained for attempting to export protected wildlife without authorisation and for trying to export items that had not cleared customs procedures.