Snakes rescued from uMhlanga home

EARLIER this year, two foreign nationals were arrested on Addison Drive for unlawfully selling gold, however, this led police to a much bigger bust. Police uncovered the Ugandan duo were also scamming people out of their money by claiming to help with contacting the ancestors through a traditional healing scam.

The increase in traditional healer scams has been well documented in the past and local residents can’t pass an intersection without a flyer claiming to solve every ailment possible or to winning the lotto. The use of snakes has also been a common theme, and Durban North’s Jason Arnold, from Universal Reptiles has had a busy time rescuing a number of snakes from uMhlanga, Chatsworth and Musgrave recently.

“The owner of the property in uMhlanga didn’t know the con men were operating out of the house. He contacted me and handed over two albino corn snakes. I suspect the reason the con men used them was because of their bright colours,” he said.

The snakes are non-venomous and Arnold added the con men avoided using cobras or mambas because they could get bitten themselves.

Arnold also rescued a rat snake that was placed in a vehicle on Moore Road. “I think the con men had placed the snake in the vehicle to scare the victim into giving them more money,” he said.