Snakes Getting Popular Among Drug Dealers

Drug dealers are increasingly using poisonous snakes to guard their merchandise and money and sometimes to transport their contraband, the University of Colorado at Boulder said Monday.

David Chiszar, an animal behaviorist in the university’s psychology department, said a large variety of highly venomous reptiles have been found with drug dealers, including rattlesnakes, cobras, African vipers and tiger snakes.

He also said several smuggling cases have been documented where large reptiles were force-fed packets of drugs to smuggle them across borders. The snakes were later destroyed to retrieve the drugs.