1,500 turtles found in left luggage

Over 1,500 turtles were found in unclaimed luggage in the Philippines.

The Bureau of Customs seized four checked-in suitcases at Manila's Ninoy Aquino airport on Sunday and were stunned to discover 1,529 reptiles - worth around £66,000 - wrapped in tape or hidden inside plastic containers among clothes in the bags.

Officers explained how the cases were brought from Hong Kong by a passenger from the Philippines but simply left unclaimed in the arrivals area, with officials speculating the would-be smuggler had second thoughts when seeing notices of potential punishments.

The turtles have been transferred to a monitoring unit.

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