Tourist attempts to hide exotic wildlife in pants at airport

There were a lot of animals down under — and we’re not talking about Australia.

Thailand authorities were flabbergasted after they busted a tourist attempting to smuggle two otters and a prairie dog through the airport — in his trousers.

Video depicting the man’s bold, undie-cover animal trafficking scheme is currently blowing up online.

The 22-year-old Taiwanese traveler had reportedly bought the animals at a market in Bangkok, and then proceeded to stuff them in his underwear before arriving at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok on December 5, Viral Press reported.

He was reportedly slated to fly Thai Airways flight TG632 to Taipei, Taiwan.

However, authorities caught wise to the man’s ham-handed plan after noticing an unusually large bulge wobbling about below the waist.

They referred him to the X-ray station, where scans revealed the critters wriggling about down under like a traveling circus in his trousers.

The animals were in three separate stockings taped to his pants. ViralPress
A peek inside the man’s “cargo hold.” ViralPress

A subsequent strip search revealed that he’d been harboring two Asian small-clawed otters and a prairie dog, which he had stuffed in three separate socks and taped to his designer boxer shorts.

A video shows the culprit being forced to cut a hole in his trousers and extract the critter-filled stockings, which are seen wiggling in the bin.

The Asian small clawed otter, which is the smallest of the 13 species, is native to Southeast Asia and listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

Meanwhile, prairie dogs, burrowing rodents that reside in US grasslands, are also at risk with two of the five species being listed as endangered.

An authority with a prairie dog that was rescued from the man’s pants.

Following his “debriefing,” the smuggler was detained at the airport and now faces charges of violating Thailand’s Customs Act, Animal Epidemics Act and Animal Conservation and Protection Act. 

His illicit packages, meanwhile, were handed over to the Wildlife Conservation Office.

“Thailand is not a gateway to smuggle exotic animals out of the country,” said Customs Department spokesman Phanthong Loykulnant. “We will catch anyone who tries to take animals on planes.”

The animals were rescued and handed over to the Wildlife Conservation Office. ViralPress
The smuggler gets strip-searched. ViralPress

Unfortunately, Thailand has proven a popular hub for illicit wildlife traffickers trying to smuggle various exotic critters into China.

In October, from Bangkok to Taiwan took a wild turn when a rat and an otter smuggled aboard by a passenger got loose in the main cabin mid-flight, turning it into a veritable Noah’s Arc at 30,000 feet.