Mexican national arrested for smuggling endangered lizards into Japan

A 23-year-old Mexican national, Daniel Isaac Velasco Baltasar, has been arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department for allegedly attempting to smuggle endangered Blue-eyed alligator lizards from South Korea to Japan.

Customs officials at Haneda Airport discovered the lizards after noticing suspicious bulges in a T-shirt inside a suitcase. The suspect had reportedly hidden approximately 200 lizards inside 22 pairs of socks, which were then wrapped in clothing to evade detection.

While the lizards are highly valued in the pet trade in Japan, fetching around 100,000 yen each, the suspect claimed to have purchased them in Mexico for approximately 750 yen per animal. The Blue-eyed alligator lizard is an endangered species with strict import regulations in Japan. Police are currently investigating the scale of the distribution network.