A 23-year-old Mexican national has been arrested at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport after allegedly attempting to smuggle around 200 lizards into Japan, hidden inside socks rolled up in his suitcase.
Daniel Isaac Velasco Baltazar was detained on August 8, 2026 after arriving on a flight from South Korea. He is accused of violating Japan’s Customs Act by attempting to import the reptiles without declaring them or holding the required government authorization.
Tip led investigators straight to him
According to The Japan Times, authorities had been on alert since late July after receiving an anonymous tip that a Mexican national was planning to smuggle lizards into the country ahead of a reptile exhibition.
Customs officers noticed a suspicious bulge in a packed T-shirt during a luggage inspection, which turned out to be around 200 lizards squeezed into 22 pairs of socks. One of the animals was already dead by the time officials opened the case.
Among the reptiles were at least nine Mexican alligator lizards, an endangered species found only in the highland pine and oak forests of the Sierra Madre in central Mexico. International trade of the species is tightly restricted under CITES.
Baltazar reportedly told investigators he bought the lizards in Mexico for as little as $3.50 to $5 each. In Japan’s exotic pet market, they can sell for around 100,000 yen, roughly $630.
Japan remains one of the world’s largest markets for exotic reptiles, with wildlife smuggling attempts at its airports far from rare. A 2025 WWF Japan report found the country ranks among the top five global importers for six of nine reptile species studied.
A teenager was previously caught smuggling 30 tortoises strapped to her body through an airport in Bangkok, highlighting how widespread the exotic animal trade has become across Asia.
