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Snakes on a Plane

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  • Carpet salesman, Tom Crutchfield, fulfils a childhood dream for adventure, world travel and reptiles by becoming Americas biggest reptile smuggler with a worldwide operation worth millions of dollars.
  • Tom's first trip is a short flight from his home in Florida to Bimini Islands in the Bahamas include his wife Penny and friend, Scott. Seen here is Scott, Penny and tom in the jungle. They decide to take home a bag of tarantulas he discovers in a deserted building. With only a slap on the wrist at customs in Miami for having those spiders, Tom takes that as a green light to continue smuggling exotic and rare reptiles back to the US.
  • Tom in the exact moment he catches a king cobra snake. He gives up his job and spends the next ten years traveling the Americas and the Caribbean. He gains a reputation for meeting the needs of his customers. He becomes one of the biggest reptile dealers in the world. He decides to go to Thailand and catch the longest venomous snake, the King Cobra.
  • When undercover agents catch on to Tom's business, he and his wife decide to flee to Belize where they have ben told they have no extradition treaty with the US for smuggling charges. But what he does not anticipate is being arrested by the Belize authorities and held in a jungle prison where the inmates rule and murder is commonplace.
  • Tom is seen here inside the prison. Despite being in fear of his life while in prison, he decides to fight the deportation bid and loses. He is set to return to the US to face the charges against him.
  • A close encounter of Penny and Tom at the prison. The ordeal destroys both his fortune and his marriage.

  • Tom Crutchfield

    Photograph by National Geographic Channels

    Carpet salesman Tom Crutchfield fulfills a childhood dream for adventure, world travel, and reptiles by becoming America’s biggest reptile smuggler with a worldwide operation worth millions of dollars.

  • First Trip to Bahamas

    Photograph by National Geographic Channels

    Tom's first trip is a short flight from his Florida home to the Bimini Islands in the Bahamas with his wife Penny and friend, Scott. Seen here is Scott, Penny, and Tom in the jungle. They decide to take home a bag of tarantulas he discovers in a deserted building. With only a slap on the wrist at customs in Miami for having those spiders, Tom takes that as a sign and green light to continue smuggling exotic and rare reptiles back to the U.S.

  • Supply Anything and Everything

    Photograph by National Geographic Channels

    Tom gives up his job and spends the next ten years traveling the Americas and the Caribbean. He gains a reputation for meeting the needs of his customers. He becomes one of the biggest reptile dealers in the world. He decides to go to Thailand and catch the longest venomous snake, the king cobra.

  • Caught Red Handed

    Photograph by National Geographic Channels

    When undercover agents catch on to Tom's business, he and his wife decide to flee to Belize where they have been told they have no extradition treaty with the U.S. for smuggling charges. But what he does not anticipate is being arrested by the Belizean authorities and held in a jungle prison where the inmates rule and murder is commonplace.

  • Reflection on His Misfortune

    Photograph by National Geographic Channels

    Tom is seen here inside the prison. Despite fearing for his life while in prison, he decides to fight the deportation bid and loses. He is set to return to the U.S. to face the charges against him.

  • Losing Everything

    Photograph by National Geographic Channels

    A close encounter between Penny and Tom at the prison. The ordeal destroys both his fortune and his marriage.

2 comments
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Stephanie Jordan
Stephanie Jordan

Tom's awesome! On so many levels! Never watched a single one of these shows but I'll make sure to watch this one! lol 

Lyndon James
Lyndon James

This story is so wrong on so many levels.  Bragging about the profits of importing rare and dangerous species, risk of their release into the wild, biting others.  It's a really sick crime and the stupidity rivals all other "Locked Up Abroad" episodes by a mile.  Wow!