Man With 15 Lizards Strapped to Chest Arrested at Airport

[KelliH]

Friday, November 20, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Federal officials say they arrested a man who strapped 15 live lizards to his chest to get through customs at Los Angeles International Airport.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday that 40-year-old Michael Plank of Lomita, Calif., was returning from Australia when U.S. Customs agents found two geckos, two monitor lizards and 11 skinks — another type of lizard — fastened to his body Tuesday.

Plank has been released on $10,000 bond and will be arraigned in federal court on Dec. 21.

Authorities say the lizards' value totals more than $8,500. All Australian reptiles are strictly regulated and Plank did not have a permit for them.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576105,00.html?test=latestnews

The name Michael Plank sure sounds familiar. Does anyone know him?

 

[Tony C]

Michael Plank of Big Game Reptiles?

 

[KelliH]

That's why the name sounded so familiar... Wow. Well, just to cover all bases we don't know for sure it's the same guy. But, how many other Michael Plank's that breed Australian lizards that live in California can there be?... Wow.

 

[LizMarie]

Interesting! People never seem to amaze me.

 

[gitrdone0420]

Oh wow, yea I read this story in the paper this morning. How weird! poor lizards!

 

[Gregg M]

Just to be fair here, MANY of the species we work with in the US, especially from Austalia were smuggled into the US in a similar way at one point...

 

[KelliH]

That's true Gregg but that doesn't mean it's ok to break the law. It's a really stupid thing to do.

 

[Gregg M]

Oh, I agree 100% Kelli...

It sucks that sometimes people resort to this... It is to be expected when there are super strict laws that keep these animals from being imported legaly...

If there was regulation in place of banning, this problem would not exist...

Thats my opinion on the problem...

 

[KelliH]

Well all I got to say is obviously security in the Australian airports isn't very tight LOL.

 

[SFgeckos]

This really makes me sad...Both for the animals and the poor decisions that people make which have such a negative impact on our beloved hobby.

I don't necessarily think that the security down under was bad- authorities probably let him through on purpose in some type of sting operation. Normally, U.S. custom officials wouldn't randomly stop someone unless they were on "the list" of suspected animal smuggling or repeat offenders.

 

[Jorgevill]

Wow, I have seen some of his adds on Kingsnake, I totally agree with Kelli, this happens a lot in my country, some animals like Abronias and Helodermas are caught to be sent to Germany and USA, these animals can be sold at a very high price...

 

[dprince]

Wow. People never cease to amaze me. A lizard "mule!!" Who knew.

 

[Yamori]

Well all I got to say is obviously security in the Australian airports isn't very tight LOL.

Oh they are, how he managed to get that far is beyond me. Security at airports here is extreme.


http://travelsecure.infrastructure.gov.au/international/screening_video.aspx

This video gives a quick rundown of the screening procedures etc. This shows only a fraction of what goes on.. security officers everywhere, sniffer dogs, new and improved walk thrue scanners. They will do random frisks at times and like in the video if wearing a thick jacket ,coat or jumper they may ask you to remove it.

I just don't see how he could of got thru so much security with various lizards strapped to him.

Bloody crooks stealing our wildlife. Glad he got caught lol


I understand what Gregg is saying though and it is the same thing here, we can not import leos or any species of non-native reptiles here.

The laws prohibiting the importation of non natives is there to protect the native reptiles and their habitats, not to mention prevention of importing species that may have mites or diseases not found here and vise-versa. These laws are in place for a reason

 

[MXWreptile]

And was it M. Plank of BGR now? BGR's website is also down at the moment.



Max

 

[lbratcher4]

Does anyone know what has become of Michael and his geckos? I have bought from him in the past he is a great guy its sad he did this but I still hope the best for him and hope his animals were sent to good homes and not put down.