Stewardess, the Man Next to Me Skinks: California Man Arrested at Airport With 15 Reptiles Tied to Body

It was probably not the reptile logo on an Izod shirt that gave Michael Plank, 40, away at the Los Angeles International Airport. It was more likely the 15 live lizards strapped to his chest under the shirt, including 11 skinks.

Customs agents lifted Plank’s shirt only to find two geckos, two monitor lizards and 11 skinks — another type of lizard fastened to his body.

The Australian reptiles are strictly regulated and worth about $8,500. He could get as much as 20 years for such smuggling, though a much lower sentence is usually meted out in such cases.

We have recently seen similar smuggling cases with passengers found crawling with reptiles, here.

For the full story, click here.

12 thoughts on “Stewardess, the Man Next to Me Skinks: California Man Arrested at Airport With 15 Reptiles Tied to Body”

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  2. AY,

    You’re just mad because my “there’s a lizard in your pants” joke was better. You Texans can be such spoil sports. Remember the Alamo. 😉

  3. Yikes,
    If these lizards are worth $8,500, how much is the Geico Gecko worth? It amazes me what people will put themselves through just to make a few bucks and violate the law. I guess we should be happy he didn’t hide them somewhere else on or in his body.

  4. Buddha,

    You live to be a suck up. Service my Anal Representative to deploy.

  5. AY,

    To be fair, eniobob brought this up first.

    http://jonathanturley.org/2009/11/20/barney-the-bovine-canine-man-barred-from-owning-dogs-for-ten-years-after-overfeeding-dalmatian/#comment-91848

    And word choice can be critical in forming a joke. I point to my use of “Gila Monster” following eniobob’s original post and link to this story. Lizard is a funny word. Most “z” words can be. But “Gila Monster” has imagery. Just a tip.

  6. I can just hear it now. Is that a Lizard in your pocket or are you just nervous?

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