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Rare iguanas smuggled into UK in socks seized at airport

Two Romanian women are being held by police after airport officials found 13 "incredibly rare" iguanas wrapped in socks inside a suitcase at Heathrow Airport.

Each sized iguana was wrapped in an individual sock Credit: Border Force

The endangered San Salvador Rock Iguanas - each wrapped in an individual sock - were discovered inside an item of luggage coming in from the Bahamas by officers carrying out customs checks on Monday. Twelve survived their journey, one had died in transit.

One of the rare iguanas seized at Heathrow Credit: Border Force

The two women, aged 24 and 26, were arrested on suspicion of importation offences.

Grant Miller, head of the Border Force CITES team, said: “This particular species of iguana is incredibly rare – only a few hundred are believed to be left in existence – so this was a remarkable and very important seizure.

The case carrying 13 endangered iguanas was seized by Border Force officers at Heathrow Credit: Border Force

“Given the circumstances we found them in it seems incredible that all but one survived such a long flight," he added.

He said that the surviving animals were dehydrated and are now under the supervision of a specialist vet.