In one of the weirder (and dispiriting) ways to smuggle an animal into Singapore, a man hid a live bird inside a potato chirps chips tube (seaweed flavor) and tried to head across the borders at Woodlands Checkpoint.
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers uncovered the tubed bird from the glove compartment of a Malaysian-registered car on Sunday. The car itself was driven by a 23-year-old Malaysian male, who is being investigated by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA).
AVA is also taking care of the bird; its species unknown. It looks beautiful though.
“Smuggled animals are of unknown health status and may introduce exotic diseases, such as avian influenza, to Singapore,” wrote the ICA, adding that any importation of animals without a license carries a penalty of up to $10,000 in fines and a year in prison.
As far as smuggled birds go, putting them in potato chips tubes seem to be a better ordeal than getting shoved into PVC tubes — a man was jailed for his attempt to bring in 12 exotic birds from Vietnam in an inhumane manner. Though the birds were found alive and sent for quarantine the day after the discovery, eight of them died within the next two days from cranial trauma with accompanying hemorrhage, swelling and dehydration.
