Enlarge image
Alligator (icon image)
Photo: Masa Ushioda / IMAGO
French customs made an unusual find - and stopped two Germans in a van with four alligators after entering Spain.
First, police officers checked the van at the motorway toll station near Le Perthus behind the border, the newspaper Le Parisien reported.
So they asked customs for help when they came across the alligators.
A species protection expert stated that these are alligators and there are strict restrictions on their importation.
Since the Germans had no papers for the transport, they were arrested by customs and handed over to the police.
She is expecting a criminal case.
The alligators were taken to a crocodile zoo south of Lyon.
What the Germans were planning to do with the reptiles, where they came from and where their journey was supposed to go was not known.
wit/dpa
