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. 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.
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