CHENNAI: A 44-year old man from Thanjavur was nabbed at the Chennai airport for smuggling pythons, monkeys and rodents from Thailand, the customs department said on Sunday. On suspicion, customs officials examined the baggage of a passenger which led to the discovery of illegal wildlife trafficking attempt.

Upon inspection, the officials recovered 2 ball pythons, a dead golden-handed Tamarin and 2 dead marmosets, all of which are endangered species, from the check-in baggage of Guruswamy Sudhakar, who was subsequently sent to the Puzhal central prison by a special court.

26 Woodland dormouse, 15 of which were dead, were also recovered, the customs added. In another incident, over 1.5 kilograms (kg) of gold worth Rs 94 lakh hidden in toilet of a flight from Dhaka on November 3 was found.