Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — A citizen of Kazakhstan was detained at the Navoi customs post on the border with Kazakhstan while attempting to illegally export 15 live Eastern boa snakes, the State Customs Committee’s press service reported.

The operation was carried out jointly by the Tashkent Regional Customs Administration and the Ministry of Ecology and Environmental Protection. It was established that the detained individual did not possess the required permits for the export of the reptiles.

The snakes, which are listed in Uzbekistan’s Red Book of endangered species, were being transported in a 10-liter plastic bottle. They were later handed over to the Tashkent Zoo for further care.

Eastern boas are a rare species native to various regions of Uzbekistan, including the Ustyurt Plateau, the central Kyzylkum Desert, the Zarafshan Valley, the Karshi Steppe, the Zarafshan Mountains, as well as the Kashkadarya, Jizzakh, and Syrdarya regions, the mountain slopes of the Tashkent region, the Fergana Valley, and the foothills of the Surkhandarya region.