You Won’t Believe What Was Shipped In This Potato Chip Can
Picture from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
They say eating too many potato chips could eventually kill you; however, just opening these potato chip cans could cost you your life.
A man was arrested after allegedly importing king cobras–yes the deadly snakes–from Hong Kong to the U.S.
Apparently, the man and his accomplice thought the perfect shipping container for the international shipping of a snake with venom strong enough to kill an elephant is a potato chip can.
I can just hear Samuel L. Jackson’s reaction to this story: “I’m tired of these mother-f*@#%ing snakes in these mother-f*@#%ing potato chip cans!”
A story this weird, this strange could only mean on thing…
Universal Bizargo shipping container
That’s right, in an unprecedented move, Universal Cargo presents two Universal Bizargo stories in a row!
On Tuesday, we shared the story of four men found in a shipping container from Georgia. But today’s story completely dwarfs that one with its bizarreness.
Alene Tchekmedyian reported in the LA Times that the alleged recipient of the cans of king cobra snakes, Rodrigo Franco, “was arrested on a federal smuggling charge after a monthslong investigation that also involved the seizure of a young crocodile, three alligator snapping turtles and five diamond back terrapins, all of which are protected species…”
According to the article, it was actually back in March that customs officers discovered the cobras in potato chip cans that were being shipped to an apartment in Monterey Park, CA. Tchekmedyian goes on to write that Franco is being “charged with one count of illegally importing merchandise into the United States, which carries a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.”
Picture from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Franco is lucky a customs officer didn’t get bit by one of the snakes when inspecting his incoming potato chip cans. If that had happened, Franco might have found himself also facing a charge like criminal negligent homicide.
Each of the king cobras that were coiled up inside a potato chip can was reported to be about two feet long. That means the snakes were probably pretty young as, according to National Geographic, king cobras can reach 18 feet in length.
If you’re wondering what happened to the snakes, Tchekmedyian ended the article with “… two of the cobras seized in March are receiving care at the San Diego Zoo, while the third died for unknown reasons.”
This is just a hunch, but I suspect the unknown reason for the death of the third cobra was being shipped from Hong Kong to the U.S. in a potato chip can. Of course, like I said, that is just a wild guess.
For the record, if you want to follow in Franco’s footsteps and import cobras in potato chip cans, black mambas in cheese puff containers, or some other deadly animal in any kind food packaging, go ahead and do your international shipping through a company other than Universal Cargo.
But if you want to read weird stories about international shipping, check out the rest of the installments of our Universal Bizargo series listed below.
