Man Wearing Pants Filled With Snakes Stopped by TSA
Pants stuffed with snakes and other cold-blooded animals are totally on-trend for fall 2011. However, there's some risk involved in wearing such garments! For example, TSA agents—who aren't known for being fashion-forward—might stop you from boarding your plane and arrest you.
This is something the September Vogue's Guide to the Hottest Pants-Zoo Looks probably won't tell you about, so read closely: At the Miami International Airport, TSA agents made a passenger miss his flight after their scanners detected the seven exotic snakes (venomous status unknown!) and three tortoises stuffed in his pants. As it turns out, the federal Lacey Act bans transporting exotic animals in such ways. The man was arrested for trafficking illegal wildlife and now faces a maximum five-year prison sentence.
Perhaps you're imagining a scene in which the trousersnakes (sorry, it was necessary) are trying to slither out of this guy's pants via his waistband and pant legs, and he's forced to keep stuffing them back inside his pants, and they're crawling out, and he's shoving them back in, and he's dancing and jiggling around the whole time because the snakes tickle. Well, it didn't go that way, because the man had placed the coiled snakes in nylon bags and then stuffed them down his trousers. Take note, fashionistas!
This isn't the first time somebody's tried to smuggle snakes on a plane. Back in 2007, when wearing snakes on your feet was all the rage, a TSA agent found a boa constrictor inside a person's shoe. Maybe it's time for the fashion industry to seriously consider whether snakewear is in everyone's best interest, given the realities of our post-9/11 world.
