A Vietnamese man was stopped in his
attempts to smuggle live tropical fish into New Zealand when water
was spotted dripping from his pockets.
Customs officials realised
something fishy was going on, perhaps while twiddling their mustaches, and apprehended the man. For the purposes of the Wireless
retelling of this story we'd like you to imagine this man is John
Cleese. It's just a nicer image.
He initially argued that he was
carrying water in his pockets because he was thirsty. Which in itself
is a pretty mental thing to say. There were seven fish in total,
which will now be considered the industry standard for international
fish smuggling.
Despite this story seeming like the
type of harmless comedy romp that wouldn't feel out of place in a
Carry On film, the stern sounding Ministry Of Primary Industries
feels otherwise:
“This is something we should all take
very seriously. The
fish could have been carrying diseases or have the potential to
displace native species. ” said
MPI spokesperson Craig Hughes.
The man will face charges under the Biosecurity Act, which carries maximum penalties of five years in
jail or
a NZ$100,000 (£50,000) fine.
Words: Ben Gibson
