Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Excuse Me, Sir....?!?

A man smuggled a monkey onto an airplane Tuesday, stashing the furry fist-size primate under his hat until passengers spotted it perched on his ponytail, an airline official said.

The monkey escapade began in Lima, Peru, late Monday, when the man boarded a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

During the flight, people around the man noticed that the marmoset had emerged from underneath his hat, Russell said.

"Other passengers asked the man if he knew he had a monkey on him," she said.

The monkey spent the remainder of the flight in the man's seat and behaved well, said Russell, who didn't know how it skirted customs and security.

Airport police were waiting for the man and his monkey when the plane landed about 3 p.m., and the man was taken away for questioning.

"It is kind of a spirited monkey," Russell said. "That will be the nickname of the monkey: Spirit."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Having spent some time in Lima's international airport, this story doesn't surprise me in the least. It's equivalent to a bus stop with respect to food options, cleanliness, and (evidently) security.