A woman stuffed 5 live snakes into stockings and hid them in her bra in an attempt to get them into China, Chinese customs officers say

• A woman tried to bring five snakes into China by hiding them in her bra.
• Authorities noticed she had a strange body shape, which led them to discover the animals.

A woman was caught trying to bring five snakes into China after customs officers noticed her body had a strange shape.

On June 29, customs officers found a woman had stuffed five snakes into stockings and tucked them into her bra, according to a report by the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, citing a post by the China Customs official account on WeChat, a popular messaging app in China.

The woman, who was not identified in the post, was found smuggling the snakes at Futian Port in Shenzhen, per the post by China Customs. Shenzhen is a city in southeastern China that borders Hong Kong. Customs officers seized the snakes and handed them over to authorities.

In the post, China Customs said all five snakes were corn snakes, which are native to northeastern and central parts of the US. The post did not state whether the woman faces consequences for bring the snakes into China.

As of 2017, some 1 million people in China owned exotic pets, but the rules are complicated when it comes to transporting these animals.

Transporting animals in and out of China is subject to quarantine inspection by authorities, according to China's laws for the entry and exit of animal and plant quarantine.

China's increasing interest in exotic pets means snake farms in the country are booming. Deqing, a county in eastern China, is known as one of the snake farming capitals of the world. It has over 100 snake farms that collectively bring in some $12 million in revenue every year, per a July 2018 investigation by SCMP.

China Customs did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.