Gatwick Airport discovers rare lizards

An eagle-eyed customs operator at Gatwick Airport has uncovered a highly unusual and highly illegal package. Three very rare alligator lizards were discovered at Gatwick and have since been moved to Heathrow Airport’s animal reception centre.

Customs officials at Gatwick made the bizarre find during a search of a courier package which was intercepted at the West Sussex terminals having been originally sent from Guatemala with the Czech Republic the intended final destination. The lizards were hidden inside video cassette tapes.

According to officials from the UK Border Agency the Cope’s arboreal lizards would see dealers on the black market prepared to pay well over £1,000 each for the temperate zone reptiles. The animals are unable to be sold anywhere in the world and it is believed that they are the only ones of their kind to exist inside the United Kingdom. Officers at the animal reception centre are now looking for a new home for the scaly travellers but as yet no solution has been found.