Chennai: In a first of its kind incident, a man was detained by Customs officials at the Anna International Terminal in Chennai airport when he tried to smuggle a leopard cub in his baggage from Thailand. The passenger identified as Kaja Mohideen (45), who had boarded a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok, had hidden the cub in a pink basket.The cub has since been handed over to authorities at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur in suburban Chennai. Mohideen has been detained and handed over to the Forest Department. According to sources, the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs Department had checked the man”s luggage on a specific intelligence input and were surprised to find something moving inside the basket. When they opened it they were surprised to find a leopard cub.Mohideen, who was grilled, claimed that he had brought the cub – the source of which is being ascertained – from Thailand to be handed over
an tries to smuggle leopard cub into Indiato a points person at Chennai. However, no one turned up at the airport to meet him.“This is the first time that we have come across someone smuggling a leopard cub into the country by air. Usually star tortoises and snake boa are smuggled out of the country as in the southeast some people believe that soup made of these reptiles serves as an aphrodisiac. Animal parts such as tiger skin or tusk are brought into the country illegally but a live cub of a wild animal is quite a revelation,” said a Customs officer.Officials fed the cub milk before handing it over to Forest Department. The cub appeared to be playful and was moving around on a sofa at the airport.