Lizards turn up in Italy

THE discovery of live Australian lizards hidden inside a speaker in Italy has led to the conviction of a Victorian man for exporting and importing reptiles.

Craig James Pender was fined $2000 for illegally possessing, importing and exporting reptiles after a joint federal and Victorian environmental department investigation.

It was sparked by the discovery of five blue-tongued lizards, four spiny-tailed skinks and four shingleback lizards in a FedEx parcel in Milan in 2013. The reptiles were stuffed inside socks hidden in a speaker.