Sickening moment 88 frozen crocodile TAILS are found in a truck as they were being illegally transported in China
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Police made the gruesome discovery near China-Vietnam border last week
- Same truck also contained the carcasses of 70 wild Siamese crocodiles
- The reptile is considered a critically endangered animal in south-east Asia
Police in China have seized 88 frozen crocodile tails along with 70 frozen wild Siamese crocodiles from smugglers in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The gruesome discovery was made during a routine inspection at a check point in the city of Fangchenggang near the China-Vietnam border on January 22, reports the People's Daily Online.
Wild Siamese crocodiles are considered critically endangered in south-east Asia by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They are farmed and trafficked for their skin which is used on luxury leather products.
Sickening: Just some of the 88 crocodile tails found in the city of Fangchenggang in China on January 22
Cruel: The frozen crocodiles mouths are taped up, 70 were found like this in the back of a truck in China
Gruesome discovery: Police seized dozens of crocodile tails in China when the stopped a truck for inspection
Share this article
After the driver was stopped, the Fangchenggang border detachment realised something was wrong when they saw the amount of goods in the truck was different to the list he provided to them.
According to the report, the unnamed driver - who was travelling from the city of Dongxing - was looking very nervous when he was stopped and tried to avoid the officers upon request.
Because of his actions and the list on the shipment being different, the police decided to look in the truck for further examination.
When the officers on duty moved some of the boxes stacked up in the back, they noticed a frozen carcass of an animal inside one of them.
On closer inspection they realised it was a section of a crocodile's body.
Endangered: Wild Siamese crocodiles are considered endangered species in south-east Asia by the ICUN
Illegal: 16 boxes were in the back of the truck where the carcasses were found near the Vietnamese border
Inside the truck were 16 sealed foam boxes. China Radio International detailed the boxes being roughly three-foot-long, with a weight of around 22lbs.
The 88 crocodile tails were all a similar length of just over five feet.
When questioned, the driver claimed he was told to transport a shipment of fish from the border city of Dongxing to Fangchenggang, and was completely unaware of what he was really carrying in his truck.
Police seized the crocodile carcasses and a further investigation is underway.
The wild Siamese crocodile is on the red list of threatened species and considered critically endangered in south-east Asia by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN).
This is a result of habitual loss, degradation loss, and collection from the wild for crocodile farms for the skin trade. Their skin is used on luxury leather products for the international market.
In China it is illegal to raise Siamese crocodiles without a license or to trade and traffic the species.
Inspection: Chinese border police check the crocodile tails after they caught a man smuggling them
Oblivious: The driver said that he was told to transport a seafood shipment and was unaware of the crocodiles
Most watched News videos
- Russian soldiers catch 'Ukrainian spy' on motorbike near airbase
- China hit by floods after violent storms battered the country
- Shocking moment man hurls racist abuse at group of women in Romford
- Moment fire breaks out 'on Russian warship in Crimea'
- Shocking moment balaclava clad thief snatches phone in London
- Shocking moment thug on bike snatches pedestrian's phone
- Gideon Falter on Met Police chief: 'I think he needs to resign'
- Mother attempts to pay with savings account card which got declined
- Machete wielding thug brazenly cycles outside London DLR station
- Shocking footage shows men brawling with machetes on London road
- Trump lawyer Alina Habba goes off over $175m fraud bond
- Shocking moment passengers throw punches in Turkey airplane brawl
