A Palestinian woman was caught at the Gaza-Egypt border on Monday with three small crocodiles strapped to her body.
Though fully veiled and robed, the woman raised suspicions due to her unusual lumpiness. Guards at first feared the woman was carrying a bomb, sparking a wave of panic through the border terminal.
After the situation had calmed, a female guard inspected the woman and found the three crocodiles, each measuring roughly 20 inches, strapped to her waist with their mouth tied shut.
A Palestinian spokesman told the AP that the woman had apparently been asked by an animal dealer to smuggle the crocodiles into Gaza, where they likely would have been sold to the local zoo or wealthy private owners.
The spokesman said that each animal would have fetched about $500, a large sum in the poverty-racked Gaza Strip.
The daring female smuggler was allowed to continue on to Gaza following the incident. The crocodiles were returned to Egypt.
