Mumbai: Nine ball pythons and two corn snakes were seized from a man at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), an official informed on Friday.

Officials from the nation's top anti-smuggling agency, DRI, Mumbai zonal unit, detained a man on his way into the city airport from Bangkok based on particular intelligence on Wednesday, the official said.

He claimed that when officials searched his checked-in luggage, they found two corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) and nine ball pythons (Python regius) hidden inside cake and biscuit packs.

The smuggled wildlife was seized under the provisions of Customs Act, 1962. 

Subsequently, representatives of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) in Navi Mumbai's western district identified the species of reptiles that some people keep as exotic pets.

He claimed that import policies and CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) were broken by bringing in non-native species like ball pythons and corn snakes.

The official claimed that the snake's carrier has been taken into custody and that the regional deputy director of WCCB has issued an order for the deportation and imprisonment of the snakes, with the intention of returning them to Bangkok for a greater chance of survival.