
Man charged with smuggling 3 Burmese pythons over U.S. border in his pants
CBSN
A New York City man was charged this week with smuggling three Burmese pythons in his pants at a U.S-Canadian border crossing. Calvin Bautista, 36, is accused of bringing the hidden snakes on a bus that crossed into northern New York on July 15, 2018.
Importation of Burmese pythons is regulated by an international treaty and by federal regulations listing them as "injurious to human beings."
Bautista, of Queens, was arraigned Tuesday in Albany on the federal smuggling charge and released pending trial, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman.

In the past year, over 135 million passengers traveled to the U.S. from other countries. To infectious disease experts, that represents 135 million chances for an outbreak to begin. To identify and stop the next potential pandemic, government disease detectives have been discreetly searching for viral pathogens in wastewater from airplanes. Experts are worried that these efforts may not be enough.