Wellington, Jan 28 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A German man has tried to smuggle 44 lizards in his under-pants when he tried to board a flight from New Zealand. He was arrested on Sunday, when the officials discovered a small menagerie of exclusive lizards hidden in his underpants. And to the shock of the officials, the lizards totaled 44 in all.

The German Man said that he was a dealer of endangered animals. He also pleaded guilty in court to the charges of trading in exploited species and hunting absolutely protected wildlife. According to the court record, “the man had altered his underwear with eight hand-sewn compartments in order to carry 24 geckos and 20 skinks. One more lizard, the luckiest of the bunch perhaps, was later found hidden in the man’s suitcase”.

The German smuggler expected a huge payout for smuggling the 44 lizards. According to the prosecutor, Mike Bodie, each lizards is worth around $1500 in Europe.” It was also determined that 14 out of 15 adult female geckos and 12 out of 14 female skinks in the defendant’s possession were pregnant,” Bodie said. Wildlife smuggling is worth around $6-8 billion annually, and the global drug trade only supersedes it.