A 39-year-old man from Tiraspol town is suspected of smuggling rare species of reptiles, Info-Prim Neo reports, making reference to the Interior Ministry’s press service. The police detained the man in Varnita village, Anenii Noi district, while he was selling a swamp iguana, a caiman crocodile, a regal piton, a chameleon, a Senegalese snake and a green iguana, all alive, to a person. He wanted for the reptiles 1,000 dollars. This merchandise on the black market costs about 10,000 euros. Interrogated by the police, the man said that he had smuggled rare species of animals and insects into Moldova for many years. He bought the live reptiles from an individual from the Ukrainian city of Odessa and hid them under the clothes fastening them with the help of gauze and other materials. In Chisinau, he sold them in small batches or by one. Legal action was taken against the man over illegal entrepreneurship. If found guilty, the smuggler would face a fine of 10,000 to 20,000 lei or up to two years behind bars. An investigation is underway to establish all the persons involved. The reptiles were transmitted to the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova.