This week, a guy from New York City was accused of crossing the U.S.-Canadian border with three Burmese pythons hidden in his jeans. On July 15, 2018, a bus traveling through northern New York is thought to have carried the disguised snakes, according to Calvin Bautista, 36.
An international treaty and federal legislation that identify Burmese pythons as “injurious to humans” govern their importation.
According to a press statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Bautista, of Queens, was arraigned on the federal smuggling allegation on Tuesday in Albany and released awaiting trial.
An email was sent to Bautista’s attorney for a response.
According to federal prosecutors, the offense carries a possible penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
The Burmese python, one of the biggest snakes in the world, is a threatened species in its native Asia and an invasive species in Florida where it poses a danger to local wildlife.
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission of Florida reports that snakes there normally grow to be six to nine feet long, while the largest one ever taken in the state was over 18 feet long. Few snake predators exist in the state, and after Hurricane Andrew 30 years ago, the snake population exploded in the wild.