MUMBAI, June 2 -- The Mumbai Customs Department intercepted an Indian passenger at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Saturday for allegedly smuggling a large number of exotic reptiles and turtles into the country. The forest department had informed the Customs officials about the alleged smuggler on Saturday. The accused arrived from Bangkok in Thai Airways and was intercepted based on his suspicious behaviour and the description provided in the tip-off. Officials checked his baggage and found three spider-tailed horned vipers (pseudocerastes urarachnoides), five Asian leaf turtles (cyclemys dentata), and 44 Indonesian pit vipers (trimeresurus insularis), out of which one had died. The snakes are both listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora as species not currently threatened with extinction but could become so if their trade is not strictly regulated. It is also listed under Schedule IV of the newly amended Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, indicating they are less endangered from trading and hunting. Pit vipers are not listed under CITES, as per a statement by Customs. Yogesh Varkad, deputy director of the wildlife crime control bureau, said the accused passenger, Mohammed Hanif Shahul, was arrested at the airport under the provisions of the Customs Act 1962. Further investigation is going on. The seized animals will be kept in Byculla Zoo till their deportation. "It was a violation of CITES and import policy, as import of live animals requires a license from the director general of foreign trade," Varkad said. Since all the three species are not indigenous in nature, it was suggested that on completion of the Customs procedures and formalities, all 51 live reptiles and turtles, should be deported back to the origin country, said Varkad. The Customs officials conducted a panchnama of the recovered exotic reptiles and registered a case. Earlier, in February, the Mumbai customs had arrested a Chennai resident at CSMIA, after he arrived from Kuala Lumpur, based on profiling. During the search, five baby Siamang Gibbon (symphalangus syndactylus) were found in his possession. The animal is listed in Appendix 1 of CITES, indicating they are threatened with extinction, and Schedule IV of the newly amended Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. All five Siamang Gibbons were ingeniously concealed inside plastic cages and carried by the passenger inside trolley bags....