Tortoises found in couple's luggage

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Officers intercepted the 41-year-old man and 42-year-old woman at Stansted Airport after they were tipped off that the pair could be carrying some of the endangered species.

After the couple were arrested, police went on to raid their home in Walthamstow, east London, where they found two more tortoises and an Asian pit viper.

The couple, who flew in from Corfu International Airport, found five police officers waiting for them as they go off the plane.

Three tortoises were found in their hand luggage and when police searched their belongings they found four others in their suitcases wrapped in socks.

One of the animals was found in a small Burberry bag and had been strapped down with black electrical tape to prevent it from moving.

"You can tell when an animal is unhappy just by looking at it and that one looked miserable," said Pc Andy Long, Essex Police Force's wildlife crime co-ordinator.

"It has been known for people to bring them back in order to pay for their holiday. They can sell them on for as much as £50 to £100 on the black market.

"When tortoises are smuggled in this way they suffer quite a lot and it would not be unusual for them to deteriorate and die."

Pc Long said tortoise smuggling had become such a large problem in the UK that the Association of Chief Police Officers decided to prioritise cracking down on the illegal trading.