Man arrested over attempt to smuggle lizards into Japan

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday it arrested a 23-year-old man after he tried to smuggle some 200 lizards into Japan by hiding them inside socks in a suitcase.

Daniel Isaac Velasco Baltazar, who is of Mexican nationality and whose place of residence and occupation are unknown, has admitted to the allegations of attempted import without permission, police said.

Baltazar is alleged to have attempted to bring in the lizards, including nine Mexican alligator lizards, from South Korea without declaring them at customs on Saturday.

International commercial trade of Mexican alligator lizards is strictly controlled under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Tokyo police said they received an anonymous tip in late July saying Baltazar was trying to smuggle lizards in time for a reptiles exhibition and sales event.

The Tokyo Customs officers who had been on alert at Haneda Airport inspected his suitcase and found some 200 lizards squeezed into 22 pairs of socks. One of them was dead.

The suspect reportedly told investigators that he had purchased them in Mexico at roughly ¥560 ($3.50) to ¥750 each.

Mexican alligator lizards that inhabit alpine regions in Mexico are scarce in Japan and are said to be traded at around ¥100,000 each.

The lizards found in the suitcase appeared to include other species as well, and authorities are investigating the details.