More than 20 lizards have illegally made their way from the Philippines to one of New Hampshire's largest cities.

If you didn't think there was a market for live water monitor lizards in New Hampshire, guess again. Also, they're endangered, and is highly illegal. According to the Lowell Sun, twenty six year old Derrick Semedo pleaded guilty to trafficking more than 20 live water monitor lizards he had exported from the Philippines in 2016.

How did he do it? The operation ran undetected by U.S. customs authorities by having the lizards placed in socks, which were then sealed closed with tape and concealed in electronic equipment shipped by commercial carriers to Massachusetts, according to a release from the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.

There's a big price to pay. According to the Lowell Sun, trafficking in protected wildlife includes a sentence of no more than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

 

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