{"id":27062,"date":"2025-10-30T01:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T01:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/27062\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T01:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T01:27:11","slug":"163-exotic-reptiles-and-bugs-packed-into-single-truck-confiscated-at-us-mexico-border-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/27062\/","title":{"rendered":"163 exotic reptiles and bugs packed into single truck confiscated at US-Mexico border in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lizards and frogs and snakes, oh my!<\/p>\n<p>More than 160 creepy-crawlers \u2014 including tarantulas, centipedes, and two dozen pythons \u2014 were confiscated from a truck trying to cross the Texas border into Mexico amid a spike in exotic pet smuggling in the area, officials said. <\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.77777778;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"37524470\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/recovered-reptiles-ht-jef-251029.jpg\" alt=\"Seized reptiles in plastic containers and bags on a table in front of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection sign.\" class=\"wp-image-37524470\"  \/>Forty-five different species of reptiles and arthropods were seized from a truck attempting to cross into Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection<\/p>\n<p>A single silver Toyota truck attempting to cruise over the Anzalduas International Bridge in Texas on Oct. 22 somehow fit all 163 of the confiscated animals inside. The driver was arrested, but hasn\u2019t been charged, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbp.gov\/newsroom\/local-media-release\/cbp-officers-seize-more-160-species-reptiles-and-arthropods-anzalduas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">US Customs and Border Protection<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The truck was packed to the brim with 45 different species of reptiles and arthropods. Many of the exotic beasts, including the staggering 24 Royal Pythons found inside, are relatively harmless if handled properly and typically sold as exotic pets.<\/p>\n<p>In total, there were a whopping 28 different species of snakes, nine types of lizards, three bug and frog species, and a single tortoise seized during the attempted border crossing, according to the CBP. <\/p>\n<p>Carlos Rodriguez, the port director who oversees the office in Hidalgo, Texas, said that there\u2019s been an uptick in \u201cthe smuggling of exotic pets\u201d in communities near the Texas-Mexico border.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"37524481\" width=\"734\" height=\"490\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/224136178_USA-IMMIGRATION_.jpg\" alt=\"A general view of the Border Patrol Station Ysleta in El Paso, with a sign for &quot;U.S. Customs and Border Protection&quot; in the foreground.\" class=\"wp-image-37524481\" style=\"width:734px;height:auto;aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\"  \/>The reptiles and insects were handed over to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. REUTERS<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe smuggling of exotic pets has been on the rise in our area, and we work closely with our partners of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect and preserve these creatures and ensure that importations and exportations of wildlife adhere to all applicable federal requirements,\u201d Rodriguez said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The Post reached out to Rodriguez for further comment.<\/p>\n<p>The reptiles and insects \u2014 including four centipedes \u2014 were remanded into the US Fish and Wildlife Service\u2019s custody.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lizards and frogs and snakes, oh my! More than 160 creepy-crawlers \u2014 including tarantulas, centipedes, and two dozen&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[18784,18785,18786,27,29,28,5029,18787,734],"class_list":["post-27062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-lizards","tag-reptiles","tag-snakes","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-us-border","tag-us-customs-and-border-protection","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}