Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Smuggler caught at airport with 12 songbirds stuffed down pants.

Jeez, look at those socks! Who wears white socks with black shoes?? From Daily Mail:
When customs officials at Los Angeles International Airport spotted feathers and bird droppings on one passenger's shoes they were immediately suspicious.

And when the man's name was checked against records, they noticed America's Fish and Wildlife department had put out a warning about Sony Dong.

Three months earlier, he had abandoned a suitcase containing 18 rare songbirds at the same airport.

But officials were still surprised when they searched him again and discovered a dozen tiny birds strapped to his socks.

'He had fashioned these special cloth devices to hold the birds,' said U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek. 'They were secured by cloth wrappings and attached to his calves with buttons.'

The songbirds sell for $10 to $30 in Vietnam and are sold to collectors in the United States for about $400, Mrozek said.

'They're rare and there are collectors who are willing to pay top dollar for these things,' he said.

Smuggling birds is not uncommon.In February of this year an Australian traveller was caught at Melbourne airport with live pigeons down his trousers.

3 comments:

Steve from Moon said...

The birds were alive and pooping on shoes?

His name is really Dong?

Love it!

Adam Coozer said...

It's pretty insane. I feel bad for the birds.

Molly said...

The socks are pretty hilarious but I agree it is sad for the birds.