LA Man Admits To Smuggling King Cobras Mailed In Chip Canisters

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Los Angeles man was sentenced to prison Monday for smuggling highly venomous king cobras into the country inside potato chip canisters via the mail. When the snakes were discovered in March, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Wildlife Inspector came within inches of the deadly snakes, according to court filings.

Prosecutors pointed out that the poison from a king cobra can kill a person within 30 minutes, and "there was no known king cobra anti-venom in Los Angeles," when she discovered the can of snakes in March. Each black and yellow king cobra was alive and two feet long when the agent discovered them.

"Reptiles are my passion," Rodrigo Franco, an ex-auto mechanic, wrote to Judge George H. Wu, who sentenced Franco in Los Angeles federal court.

In addition to the three snakes, the parcel also contained three albino Chinese soft-shelled turtles, according to prosecutors.

The discovery set into motion a sting operation by special agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

According to the affidavit, Franco also allegedly mailed six protected turtles — desert box turtles, three-toed box turtles and ornate box turtles — from the United States to Hong Kong in trade for the snakes, but that shipment also was intercepted by the USFWS.

Because of the danger associated with the cobras, the snakes were seized from the package that had come from Hong Kong. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service made a controlled delivery of the soft-shelled turtles to Franco's home. Immediately after the package was delivered, federal agents executed a search warrant at the residence.

While searching the home, agents found the package that originated in Hong Kong in a child's bedroom. The bedroom also had tanks containing a live baby crocodile, alligator snapping turtles, a common snapping turtle and five diamond-back terrapins — all of which are protected species— according to the affidavit.

During a subsequent interview with authorities, Franco allegedly admitted he had previously received 20 king cobras in two prior shipments, but said all of those snakes had died in transit, prosecutors said.

During the ensuing investigation, authorities obtained evidence from Franco's phone, which contained messages in which he and someone in Asia allegedly discussed shipping turtles and snakes between the United States and Asia. According to the complaint, the messages indicate that Franco had previously received live cobras from his contact in Asia and was going to give five of the snakes to a relative of his contact.

Cobras and other reptiles are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement designed to save threatened species from endangerment and illegal trade. King cobras sell for about $2,000 each on the black market, officials said.

City News Service contributed to this report. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife via the United States Attorney’s Office