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| The king cobras inside green garbage bags |
(Scroll down for video) Police now have enough snake skin to make their own leather jackets, after they confiscated more than 50 king cobras from a driver. Police in Vietnam said they have seized 53 king cobras from a car in Hanoi and arrested the driver.
Police officer Dang Van Hanh said Monday that the live snakes were taken to a rescue center for wildlife near the capital where they will be treated before being released into the wild.
King cobras are the world’s longest venomous snake in the world, and usually grow up to 5.5 meters or 18 feet.
King cobra meat is considered a delicacy by some in Vietnam, where hunting and trade of snakes is prohibited. Snakes are also sometimes preserved as traditional medicine.
The snakes, which were kept in green bags, were seized on Friday.
Hanh said the car driver told agents he was paid to transport the snakes. The man was paid less than $50, according to local press reports.
“I hope police find those behind the snake smuggling operation, as they are extremely cruel. They exploited a young man by giving him just $50 while they are set to make thousands of dollars from this illegal operation. They need to be shut down as soon as possible,” Thomas Odel, 56, of New Orleans, Louisiana told YourJewishNews.com after learning about the snake seizure.
