Illegal Reptile Trade

Believe it or not, reptiles comprise a huge part of illegal trade on the black market. Over $10 billion dollars a year is spent on reptiles on the black market. The stories of reptile smugglers are quite entertaining.
"A German man was arrested at a New Zealand airport when shocked customs officials discovered 24 live geckos and 20 skinks hidden inside 8 hand-sewn compartments in his altered underwear." It is estimated that had he made it through, he would have sold them for over $100,000.
"This past April, a 32-year-old Canadian man pleaded guilty to hiding the following live reptiles in the side panels of his GMC Safari van:

• 1,426 turtles
• 36 tortoises
• 13 snakes.

"
Of the 1,475 reptiles found in the van, 45 were on the

protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). They were worth about $50,000.

"In [2010 in] Malaysia, a suitcase crammed with 95 boa constrictors accidentally opened on a conveyor belt at the Kuala Lumpur airport. Also scrunched inside the suitcase were two rare rhinoceros vipers and a matamata turtle. This past September, the Malaysian reptile trafficker was sent to prison for 6 months and fined $65,000"

Though it sounds ridiculous, this illegal trade is one of the most common and profitable on the black market.

http://www.suite101.com/content/most-outrageous-live-reptile-smuggling-stories-a301190