Police in Mexico who stopped a car on the highway for a minor traffic offense were surprised to find a tiger cub in the trunk.
There was a couple in the car, and officers said they became suspicious when the pair reacted “aggressively” and tried to run away. Municipal police in the town of El Marqués described how the couple were stopped by officers.
“Due to a quick maneuver, officers were able to block their path with a patrol car and arrest them immediately,” they wrote in a press release. quoted by the BBC.
What was a tiger cub looking for in a trunk?
During the search of the vehicle, the police found the tiger cub sitting between several suitcases in the trunk. They also found four pistols and nearly 100 cartridges. The chick was taken by police and will be cared for by experts with the aim of returning it to its “natural habitat”.
This is not the first time a tiger has been seized in Mexico. Drug traffickers often own exotic animals, and smuggling big cats is a lucrative business. Owning an exotic animal in Mexico is not illegal if the owner can prove that it came from a licensed dealer and was born in captivity.