Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat -Cairo airport authorities have arrested an Egyptian passenger on charges of endangering the safety of other passengers and the aircraft. The man was attempting to smuggle 96 snakes, of various species, into Saudi Arabia via his luggage.

Airport sources revealed that during the check-in process for a Saudi plane bound for Riyadh, an item of luggage belonging to an Egyptian passenger was deemed suspicious. Upon further inspection, four cloth bags full of snakes were found inside.

The sources added that the passenger came from the Abu Rawash region of Giza, famous its reptile trade, and that he was on his way to attend a reptile exhibition in Saudi Arabia.

After the snakes were confiscated, a vet was called in to examine them whilst an official report on the passenger was prepared and forwarded to the prosecution, on charges of endangering the safety of other passengers and the aircraft. Two weeks ago, an EgyptAir plane en route to Kuwait was forced to make an emergency landing at Hurghada Airport, after a snake bit a passenger during the flight.