--- title: Man Caught With Live Snake in His Pants at Airport description: A man going through security at Germany's Berlin-Schonefeld Airport in December was caught trying to smuggle a live snake into the terminal. canonical: https://time.com/5504499/snake-in-pants-airport/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-16T18:16:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:11.199Z og:title: Man Caught With Live Snake in His Pants at Berlin Airport og:description: No snakes on the plane og:url: https://time.com/5504499/snake-in-pants-airport/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59e2e96a6f5fea0f/69894363929fadd0f3bf2842/snake-in-pants.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 507 og:image:height: 285 og:image:alt: snake-in-pants og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Man Caught With Live Snake in His Pants at Berlin Airport twitter:description: No snakes on the plane twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59e2e96a6f5fea0f/69894363929fadd0f3bf2842/snake-in-pants.jpg?branch=production&width=507&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Man Caught With Live Snake in His Clothing at Berlin Airport > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a4b106e0-e6fa-4b74-b800-55d15dda141f&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 16, 2019 6:16 PM UTC  Boa Constrictor Boa Constrictor Joe McDonald/Getty Images/Visuals Unlimited  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 16, 2019 6:16 PM UTC A man going through security at [Germany’s](http://time.com/longform/germany-coal-mine/) Berlin-Schonefeld Airport in December was caught trying to smuggle a [live snake](http://time.com/longform/snake-venom-cancer-research/) into the terminal in an interesting manner. According to the [main German customs office](https://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/121237/4165524), [airport employees](http://time.com/money/5503367/government-shutdown-tsa-wait-times-airports/) stopped the passenger ahead of his Dec. 24 flight to Israel when they “noticed that he carried something in his pants that did not belong there.” Federal police and customs officials then discovered that he was transporting a nearly 16-inch boa constrictor on his person via a small cloth bag that was attached to his waistband. When the man couldn’t provide proper documentation for the snake, it was confiscated and taken to a reptile rescue station in Brandenburg. Officials said the man will be fined. The customs office dubbed the snake its “most curious find of 2018” in the press release documenting the incident.  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