VietNamNet Bridge – A Vietnam Airlines airplane, flight VN830, unknowingly carried a 1,000kg of alive grass-snakes from Bangkok to Hanoi on January 17.

Sixty bags marked “fresh fish,” marked for a fake address in Soc Son District, Hanoi were inspected by customs officers who discovered the snakes.

Snakes are banned from being transported across regional borders into Vietnam; they were transferred to the Soc Son Wildlife Rescue Center.

According to an official from the Noi Bai Goods Service Joint Stock Company, this is the first time live snakes have been discovered. Related agencies are seeking the snake senders and receivers.

On December 19, 2007, Thai Airways flight transported over 700 dead snakes from Indonesia to Vietnam, was also registered as fresh fish. Customs officers didn’t discover the sender or receiver’s identities. The dead snakes were destroyed.

(Source: VNE)