Passenger arrested at Cuba airport with 66 tiny birds sewn into his trousers after customs officer spots ‘bulge’

A man has been arrested in Cuba - for attempting to board a flight to America with 66 birds sewn inside his trousers.

The bird man was seized at Ignacio Agramonte International Airport in the Cuban city of Camaguay and was picked up because of the curious bulges in his trousers.

After being stopped by customs, the man bizarrely claimed he was only concealing a pigeon as a gift for his grandson.

Customs officers found dozens of birds including hummingbirds, like the one pictured, down the trousers of a man they stopped in Ignacio Agramonte International Airport, Cuba (file picture)

 

But after he was forced to remove his trousers, officers found dozens of 'frightened little finches and hummingbirds' - some with their beaks sealed shut so they would not be heard singing.

All the birds were rare species and had probably been stolen to order for the equivalent of thousands of pounds, police said.

The smuggler nearly made it on to the aircraft after a metal detector failed to pick up his feathered contraband.

 

But because of the unusual bulges, and the slow way in which he was walking, a customs officer Hermogenes Yonsiver decided to take him into an inspection room for a body search.

'As soon as he knew the game was up he tried to lie his way out of it and say he was carrying a pigeon,' said officer Yonsiver.

'He said: "What I have here is a pigeon that is a gift for my grandson" but that too was a lie. He then wanted to continue on his way.