Kenyan police have seized a 13-foot python hidden inside a box disguised as spare parts during a search on a bus at a border crossing with Tanzania.

Police said the passenger bus was travelling from Tanzania's main city of Dar es Salaam to Kenya's capital, Nairobi. The reptile was found during a routine screening at Namanga border post, located 165 kilometres  south of Nairobi.

"The bus crew are currently in custody as investigations continue," the Kenya Police said in a post on social media platform X.

Kenya is more used to reporting wildlife crimes involving elephant and rhino tusks, but has recently recorded cases of smuggling of ants.

Last week a Chinese national was sentenced to a year in prison and fined by a Nairobi court for attempting to smuggle thousands of ants out of Kenya.