Monkey business causes flight mayhem

The airline found they had an unwelcome guest on board

A drugged baboon smuggled onto a Yemeni plane caused havoc after it awoke and broke loose during a flight, the official Yemeni news agency SABA reported on Thursday.

The incident occurred 90 minutes into the scheduled flight between Sanaa and Damascus.

Chaos reigned, as women and children screamed and crew members struggled to catch the escaped baboon, the agency said.

The baboon turned out to be part of an illegal consignment of Hamadryas baboons that a smuggler had knocked out with anaesthetic and then brought on board in two boxes.

Awaiting repatriation

Security agents on board the plane arrested the smuggler, who was named as Badih. He is reported to have admitted he was taking the baboons to Syria to sell for $3,000.

The baboons are now said to be in police custody at Damascus Airport, awaiting repatriation to Yemen.

The Hamadryas baboon species is unique to the mountains of Yemen and the south-western Saudi province of Asir.