A woman was caught trying to smuggle 15 live snakes, four giant centipedes and one lizard into China hidden in her underwear despite the fact some of the animals were highly toxic.

The 32-year-old woman, surnamed Chen, had been trying to traffic the reptiles from Hong Kong to sell later in her pet shop when she was caught on the Chinese mainland side of the border.

Chen tried to enter the country with the live creatures stuffed inside her bra and pockets.

Customs agents spotted her acting nervously while passing through and her clothes appeared to be badly fitting.

They pulled her aside for a body search and shockingly found she had concealed nine king snakes, six hog-nosed snakes, four Peruvian giant centipedes, and a lizard of the Anolis genus, all of which are exotic species.

The batch of live animals has been handed over to the relevant authorities for processing, the Customs Department said.

Chen, who lives in Foshan, Guangdong Province, confessed to buying the creatures in Hong Kong and planning to re-sell them once she returned to her city.

She reportedly admitted she had done the same thing before and had earned a lot of money since the exotic species are hard to find on the Chinese market.

Chen added she sells these animals at a high price either to people who want to keep them as pets or use them to make traditional medicine.

The animals have a high ornamental and medicinal value in China, despite some of them being extremely dangerous.

One such example is the king snake (Lampropeltis), a family of serpents that includes 26 species, some of which have a highly toxic venom that can be fatal to humans.

The Peruvian giant centipede (Scolopendra gigantea) is a large arthropod that can grow up to 11 inches in length and also known to have a powerful venom that can cause intense pain, inflammation, fever, or even death.

The Customs Department did not specify what legal consequences she will be faced with.

Some 1 million people in China own exotic pets, according to a 2017 report.

According to Chinese law, animals that are transported in and out of the country first must be quarantined and inspected by authorities in order to prevent invasive alien species and protect ecological security.