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A German man was arrested last December when he tried to board a flight in New Zealand with lizards in his underpants.  Yes, a man was caught trying to smuggle 44 small geckos and skinks in his underwear.  

Hans Kurt Kubus, 58-years-old, tried sneaking the lizards out of the country by hiding them in a handsewn packet in his undies.  Naturally, everything about this situation was illegal.  However, the authorities have charged Kubus with hunting protected wildlife and trading exploited species without a permit.  There is no word on exactly how wildlife officials uncovered the underwear exploits of Kubus.

Apparently lizards are hot stuff in Europe and sell for a lot of money.  The gecko can fetch 2,000 euros ($2800) on the market and who knows what a skink goes for.  Just in case you didn’t know, skinks are lizards but several species don’t have limbs or have reduced limbs, thicker tails and necks.  Geckos, like the Geico Gecko are usually green but there are over 2,000 species of them.

Kubus plead guilty and will be spending 14 weeks in prison, and paying a few grand in fines.  Although he could have gotten up to six months in jail, and been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.  

Customs records indicate that Kubus had visited New Zealand five times prior to this occasion and in 2008 he was in the company of a Swiss Reptile Dealer.  It can be assumed that Kubus made quite a bit of money off his exploits in black market exotic animals, but hopefully he won’t be putting any down his pants in the future.

Source: http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/german-man-didnt-want-to-bomb-plane-just-had-lizards-in-his-undies/15541