HONOLULU (AP) -- Security screeners found a live snake inside a suitcase checked at Honolulu International Airport, state agricultural officials said Wednesday.
Tuesday's discovery marked the first time a snake, which are illegal in Hawaii, had been found by airport screeners, they said.
The luggage belonged to a woman who was flying from Honolulu to Sacramento, Calif.
Screeners with the Transportation Security Administration notified the state after finding the non-venomous 3-foot-long orange-and-white albino corn snake.
The 32-year-old woman, who gave a Waipahu address, told authorities she packed her own bag but didn't know how the snake got in, officials said.
The snake is being held at the state's Plant Quarantine Branch.
The woman was issued a $5,000 citation for illegal transportation, possession and harboring of a snake. If it isn't paid within seven days, the amount doubles to $10,000.
Nearly all snakes, except for the small Hawaiian blind snake, are illegal in Hawaii. Corn snakes are common in much of the mainland and northern Mexico.
