Snake seized

Hamish Heard
Authorities yesterday labelled the Geelong region Victoria’s illegal reptile capital after investigators swooped on a hotel to seize an exotic snake, drugs and weapons.
Department of Sustainability and Environment senior investigator Keith Larner said Geelong had an “incredibly high incidence” of wildlife crime.
Nearly 50 snakes, including people-eating Burmese pythons, cobras and deadly rattlesnakes, had been found in the hands of wildlife criminals in the region in the past three years, he said.
Police and wildlife officers had also seized a swag of illegal turtles, iguanas and a live alligator around Geelong.
“Our statistics tell us that most cases of people keeping illegal exotic reptiles occur between Geelong, Lara, Werribee and Melton,” Mr Larner said.
Yesterday’s raid was at Inverleigh where police arrested a 34-year-old man. They alleged he had an exotic corn snake in an upstairs room of a hotel.
“A concerned member of the public reported the man had been publicly boasting that he had exotic snakes in his possession,” Mr Larner said.
Police expected to charge the man with drug, wildlife and weapons offences after also finding “green vegetable matter” and six swords.
Corn snakes were prolific breeders and could wreak havoc on native marsupial populations if released into the wild, Mr Larner said.
Almost 40 per cent of people found with exotic reptiles in the region also possessed drugs.