Italian police warn crooks using animals to intimidate victims after busting illegal reptile house

Published on 26/03/2026 - 15:19 GMT+1

Anacondas, boa constrictors and a caiman were recovered down a mendacious partition successful confederate Italy, constabulary said connected Thursday, amid warnings that unsafe reptiles are being utilized by section crooks to intimidate their victims.

Police successful Bari carrying retired a raid successful a residential artifact recovered "exotic and unsafe animals" successful a concealed basement country turned into a clandestine reptile house.

The sting resulted successful the betterment of 2 greenish anacondas, each astir 5 metres agelong and weighing astir 60 kilograms and a spectacled caiman measuring much than 1.5 metres.

"The spectacled caiman ... is simply a chaotic predator with highly almighty jaws and perchance assertive behaviour" and posed "a existent menace to nationalist safety," a constabulary connection said.

There was besides an Asian h2o monitor, a lizard "of sizeable size equipped with claws and a perchance unsafe bite," authorities said.

Police besides seized a yellowish anaconda, a Bolivian anaconda, 4 Burmese pythons, astir 3 meters agelong each, and 4 boa constrictors.

The reptiles were kept by "a antheral with aggregate transgression convictions, who is presently untraceable," the connection said.

The "possession of exotic and peculiarly unsafe animals successful transgression contexts is simply a improvement of important societal concern," constabulary said.

"In respective cases, these animals are utilized arsenic tools of intimidation oregon arsenic a show of transgression powerfulness successful the area."