Story By: Joseph Golder / Newsflash
A woman passenger was caught carrying a so-called ‘snake wine’ with an entire rare cobra stuffed inside the bottle as stunned customs agents inspected her luggage.
The discovery was made in the city of Barnaul, in Altai Krai, in Russia, on 10th December.
Inspectors stopped the passenger, arriving from Vietnam, during routine customs control at Barnaul Airport and located the glass bottle inside her suitcase.
Inside the container was a preserved snake alongside a plant root.
Officials said the woman had bought the exotic souvenir at a market in Nha Trang in Vietnam to mark the end of the Year of the Snake.
Customs officers seized the bottle and opened two administrative cases under Part 1 Article 16.2 and Article 16.3 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offences for undeclared goods and violating import bans and restrictions.
Experts established that the reptile was a monocled cobra, a highly venomous and aggressive species protected under the CITES convention.
The woman now faces a fine and confiscation of the souvenir.
The monocled cobra, which can grow up to five feet, ranges in colour from yellow and cream-grey to pure black and is native to India, Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and southwest China.
Photos show the seized bottle containing the preserved snake as customs officers document the find.
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