The 30cm otter had been rolling around under passengers’ feet, though few travellers recognised it as a young aquatic mammal.
Eventually the rat was recaptured by cabin crew, which “bit them on the hand”, as they carried it back to the galley.
Eventually the culprit who had brought the critters aboard the plane was tracked down, admitting the animals were hers. But they were hardly the only stowaways.
On arrival in Taipei the remainder of the luggage was searched by airport police, where an additional 28 live ‘star turtles’ were found along with a snake, one marmot, a second otter and two other unspecified “rodents”.
Thai and Taiwanese officials are now investigating how the collection of exotic animals could have been brought aboard the passenger plane undetected.
Taoyuan Branch of the Defense Inspection Department said that the turtles will be kept in quarantine, while the rest will be sent to Pingtung University of Science and Technology for classification before disposal.
Police say the passenger now faces smuggling charges of up to NT$1 million ($52,000).
Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport said the animals had slipped their notice due to “human error.
“We have examined the CCTV and found that the smugglers were two foreigners who had their luggage scanned through an X-ray machine,” the airport said in a statement issued on Thursday.
A security worker has been suspended. Two passengers are under investigation for smuggling.
