New Mexico drug raid finds cocaine, guns, and 60 exotic snakes inside home

Federal officers said they found cocaine, guns and 60 exotic snakes at a South Valley home during an Albuquerque-area drug raid, including 52 that were highly venomous.

What happened?

During the federal search, New Mexico wildlife officers took custody of dozens of dangerous snakes from the home, as initially reported by KOB 4.

Authorities said the collection included mambas, cobras and pit vipers, and that some animals, among them a Black King Cobra and a Green Mamba, were found inside black trash cans.

According to KOB 4, court records show federal agents planned to arrest the man living at the home on the 15th after cocaine deals with undercover agents. The house itself was searched on the 22nd. Investigators recovered roughly half a pound of cocaine as well as guns from the property.

Neighbors told the outlet that there had been troubling signs before the arrest, with one saying, "Every trash day… they would take out the trash, I guess the wind [would] sometimes open lids or push trash that was stuck in between things, and we'd see snakeskin just fly out."

Another nearby resident, Daniel Robles, told KOB 4 the scale of what was happening became clear as crews spent the night hauling cages away from the home. 

Robles explained, "After a while you could see like some big van came in back and forth every like hour or so, getting like a whole like trucks' worth of cages, and they kept coming back and forth and they were at it all night.

Why does it matter?

Venomous snakes kept inside a house can put not only the owner at risk, but also neighbors, first responders, animal control workers, and anyone else who may need to enter the property unexpectedly.

The case also shows how human activity can create dangerous wildlife encounters. Many of these snakes were not in their natural habitats. Risky interactions with wild animals are often driven by people moving species around, confining them or disrupting the conditions they evolved in.

Predator and Prey Exotics Reptile Store manager Daeton Kuchinskas told KOB 4 that some of these snakes may fetch as much as $20,000 in illicit sales, while feeding them could cost as much as $600 a week.

KOB 4 also noted that New Mexico requires a permit to own venomous snakes, and that federal trafficking penalties may apply in this case as well.

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.