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Daniel Isaac Velasco Baltazar is arrested in Tokyo for smuggling 200 lizards hidden inside socks.

A 23-year-old Mexican national, Daniel Isaac Velasco Baltazar, was arrested at Haneda Airport in Tokyo after customs officials discovered approximately 200 lizards hidden inside 22 pairs of socks in his suitcase. The lizards were transported from South Korea, and the suspect admitted to the allegations of attempting to import the reptiles without declaring them to customs. Among the reptiles were nine Mexican alligator lizards, an endangered species with restricted international trade. While the man allegedly bought the lizards in Mexico for roughly $3.50 to $4.70 each, they can sell for as much as $630 each in Japan. Keith Jeffries, a former federal security director at Los Angeles International Airport, noted that financial incentives often drive such smuggling attempts. He explained that while TSA officers in the United States primarily focus on security threats like weapons and explosives, wildlife smuggling remains a common occurrence. The discovery of the lizards comes weeks after a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture detector dog helped officers find nearly 100 pounds of prohibited meat and wildlife products in luggage arriving from Thailand.

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