2006 - Smuggled Reptiles Intercepted at Manila Airport

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26 Nov 2006

Smuggled Reptiles Intercepted at Manila Airport
By RAINIER ALLAN RONDA
The Philippine Star

A Hollywood thriller almost became a reality when a 41-year-old woman bound for Bangkok was arrested after more than 100 snakes and other deadly reptiles were found in her luggage by Customs and airport security personnel at the Manila airport. Erlinda Vergara of Bacolod City was arrested at a baggage check-in counter at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Centennial Terminal at around 10 a.m. Tuesday. She was booked on Philippine Airlines flight PR 730.

Air travel marred by vicious reptiles is a new type of nightmare popularized recently by the movie "Snakes on a Plane’’ starring Samuel Jackson. Customs examiner Cairoden Mangaron said he noticed something suspicious and seemingly moving inside Vergara’s big suitcase when it passed through a baggage x-ray machine. When he opened the bag, Mangaron found 52 plastic bottles containing different kinds of snakes and reptiles. Some of the creatures were dead.

A partial inventory by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Wildlife Trafficking Monitoring Unit agents at the NAIA Terminal II showed the creatures consisted of 50 monitor lizards, 39 cobras, two iguanas, 16 big vipers, and eight small vipers. Theodore Agir of the NAIA-DENR-WTMU said the inventory was incomplete because some of the seized creatures were venomous and required expert handling.

Vergara later told police the suitcase was only entrusted to her by a friend from Bacolod City, whom she declined to name. Vergara, it was learned, arrived at NAIA Terminal II on a domestic flight from Bacolod City, early in the morning. Agir said the security procedures at the Bacolod City airport should be reviewed because of the failure of security authorities there to stop Vergara’s smuggling attempt. Vergara faces criminal charges for illegal trafficking of endangered animals and for violation of Customs laws.

Agir said the seized reptiles are classified as endangered species under the Convention on the International Trade on Endangered Species and Wildlife. International law bans the cross border transport of such creatures unless an importation permit is secured from authorized agencies such as the DENR.

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Lizards in diapers, snakes in bottles seized at NAIA
By Nikko Dizon
Inquirer
Nov 21 2006

Published on Page A1 of the November 22, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


LIKE A SINISTER sequel to the movie “Snakes on a Plane,” more than a hundred reptiles were discovered yesterday morning in the suitcases of a Filipino traveler bound for Bangkok at Centennial Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

An airport personnel said that all 50 monitor lizards were wearing disposable diapers, which were meant to conceal the smell of the reptiles’ urine.

Erlinda Vergara, 42, was held by airport police and Bureau of Customs officers, and as of press time was being investigated by authorities.

Vergara denied owning the reptiles, claiming that a man at the Bacolod airport where she came from had asked her to bring the suitcases for him.

The snakes were kept in various sizes of mineral water bottles while the lizards were separately placed inside jute (katsa) bags.

One 40-inch-long monitor lizard was already dead when the reptiles were shown to the media while the other lizards were still apparently struggling to free themselves from the bags.

Several snakes of various colors were still alert despite their confinement. They hissed and slithered inside the wet bottles.

Customs examiners initially counted 50 monitor lizards, 39 cobras, 21 viper cobras, 20 skinks (small insect-eating lizards) and two iguanas.

Perfecta Hinojosa, regional director of the environment department’s Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), said the numbers could still go up because further inspection showed that some bottles contained more than 10 snakes.

The reptiles will be turned over to the Parks and Wildlife Rescue Center, which will determine whether the reptiles are endangered.

Initial investigation showed that Vergara had come from Bacolod via Philippine Airlines PR 132 and was supposed to board PR 730 for Bangkok that was scheduled to depart at 10:30 a.m.

Movements in luggage

However, airport security personnel Eva Daganta and Marissa Caparas noticed some movements inside Vergara’s two pieces of luggage while they were being X-rayed.

The two called the police Aviation Security Group (ASG) which said that what were inside could not be explosives.

Customs examiner Cairo Mangarun was called to inspect the suitcases.

Upon seeing the reptiles inside, Mangarun alerted wildlife officers Teddy Agir and Allan Domingo of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Mangarun said the snakes were placed in Vergara’s green luggage while the lizards were packed in a hard black suitcase.

“There were even wet diapers on top of the bottles and the (jute bags) to keep the moisture inside,” Mangarun said.

Tall, dark and handsome

“My mistake was that I trusted that man,” Vergara told reporters. She said she worked at a call center in Metro Manila.

She described the man as 5’5” tall, dark and attractive.

However, she did not know him. She did not ask for his name either.

“He looked respectable,” she said in Filipino, explaining why she didn’t think twice about bringing the luggage or bother to take a peek into the suitcases.

Moreover, Vergara said she was already at the check-in counter at the Bacolod airport when the man approached her with the luggage.

Priority tags

She assumed that the contents of the suitcases had already been screened by the airport security personnel.

Vergara said she even told the man jokingly that she hoped the suitcases did not contain a bomb.

ASG Director Andres Caro II said he would have the ASG in Bacolod investigated for its failure to detect the reptiles.

Curiously, both suitcases had “Priority” tags on them.

Vergara said she was going to Bangkok to meet someone and was only scheduled to stay there for a day.

Aphrodisiacs

Hinojosa said a reptile’s bile could be used for medicinal purposes or as aphrodisiacs, while the live reptiles themselves could be used as pets, exhibits or even delicacies in restaurants.

The monetary value of the reptiles seized from Vergara’s luggage could reach hundreds of thousands of pesos, according to Hinojosa.

Smuggling of wildlife is the second biggest illegal trade worldwide, next to prohibited drugs, said Hinojosa’s team, citing recently conducted studies.

The seized reptiles are under Category Two of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), which regulates trade of these types of creatures.

Siamese crocodiles

Vergara could be charged with violation of Section 6 -- neglect of or cruelty to animals --under the Animal Welfare Act because the reptiles should ideally be caged; violation of the Wildlife Resources Act of the Philippines; and violation of the CITES.

Last week, airport officials in Manila found three juvenile Siamese crocodiles in a hand luggage of a Filipino, who came from Cambodia via Singapore. Each crocodile was about 1.5 feet long.

The species is on the endangered list under Philippine law and international accords.

Enrique Yu Castillo Jr. was also found carrying two bottles containing vanda (an orchid species) cultures without a permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry.