AUGUSTA, Maine — A university student was charged with possessing contraband wildlife after being found with baby alligators in a Maine taxi, police said.
Yifan Sun, 20, from Shanghai, a sociology student at University of Maine at Augusta, told authorities the hatchlings are pets and he was taking them with him to visit someone, according to centralmaine.com.
"These don't belong in Maine," Augusta police Officer Nicholas Sterling told centralmaine.com.
State law bans alligators, Maine Fish and Wildlife officers said.
A taxi driver noticed the plastic box filled with the reptiles when they stopped at a convenience store. The driver called police when and were met at a bus station shortly after.
Sun was charged with importing or possessing wildlife without a permit, according to Augusta police.