Chinese Man Fails to Smuggle a Turtle Disguised as a Hamburger

A traveler in China resorted to an unusual camouflage technique in an attempt to take his pet turtle on onto an airplane with him. The man disguised his turtle as a hamburger.

The ruse turned out to be unsuccessful after security screening workers at China's Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport airport noticed "suspicious corners" of a bag as it passed through the airport's X-ray scanners, according to the AFP.

If the suspicious corners weren't enough, the traveler, who was only identified as "Mr. Li" probably raised more suspicion by claiming the bag containing a KFC wrapper contained a hamburger, an item notably absent from the menus of the fast food fried chicken chain.

Security officials suggested to Mr. Li that his sandwhich looked similar to a turtle.

"There's no turtle in there, just a hamburger," Li reportedly insisted. "There's nothing special to see inside."

Security officials forced Mr. Li to open his bag, where they discovered the turtle.

Mr. Li reportedly wanted to travel with his "beloved" pet turtle on the flight to Beijing. After officials explained to the man that he would not be allowed to smuggle a turtle onto a commercial flight, Mr. Li reportedly entrusted his pet to a friend and then boarded the flight.

After news of the story began to circulate, images of the above "turtle burger" made a few years ago by Flickr user "flaunted" were posted to China's microblogging service Weibo, according to Kotaku.