When Mexico City airport officials detained a man with a suspicious bulge under his t-shirt, they found 18 small endangered monkeys concealed under his clothing in a girdle.
A man identified as Roberto Cabrera, 38, traveled to Mexico City aboard a commercial flight from Lima, Peru. He was searched when he began behaving "nervously," police said in a statement.
Cabrera has been charged with trafficking of endangered species.
Cabrera said he purchased the monkeys for $30 apiece. According to experts, titi monkeys can sell for as much as $1,000 on the illegal wildlife market.
Last year, an American woman was convicted for smuggling a rhesus macaque from Thailand to Spokane, Washington.
Gypsy Lawson, 28, pretended to be pregnant to smuggle the monkey into the US. She received 60 days in jail, according to the AP.
By David Wilkening
