Mississauga Man Charged With Attempting to Ship Live Snakes in the Mail

A Mississauga man is facing charges in connection with a bizarre plan to allegedly ship 10 live snakes through the mail from the U.S., the Buffalo, NY-based WIVB reports.

According to the article, 28-year-old Chaoyi Le could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

WIVB reports that the assistant U.S. attorney said Le was found in possession of 55 live reptiles in Feb of 2014 during an encounter with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel in Chicago.

Le had been traveling from Toronto to Shanghai and he was charged by a violation notice.

He paid a $5,000 fine.

WIVB reports that Le was stopped again on April 22, 2014 while entering Canada from the U.S. At that time, he apparently had three live albino western hog-nosed snakes hidden in his socks. The article says Le indicated that he intended to mail the reptiles to China.

He subsequently failed to appear in court in connection with the incident.

WIVB reports that on Aug. 11, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was notified that Le had boarded a flight from Shanghai to Los Angeles. He was arrested upon landing in L.A.

Le appeared in court on Monday and will be returned to the Western District of New York in the future.