19-year-old man arrested in an undercover sting for him selling dozens of snakes without a license

Florida wildlife officials seized a dozen pythons and arrested a 19-year-old man in an undercover sting after getting a tip that the snakes were being sold on Craigslist without a proper license.

Investigators from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission met Bradley Scott Dean at a gas station in New Port Richey, Fla., on Wednesday night under the guise of wanting to buy several Burmese pythons from him, MyFOXTampaBay reported.

"There was an offer, and acceptance. We arranged for a meet," Lt. Steve DeLacure told the station. "I went in an undercover capacity and met with the defendant on Wednesday evening."

DeLacure said he was acting on a tip that the snakes were being offered for sale on Craigslist, but Dean didn't have the required license to own or sell the reptiles. Investigators arrested Dean at the gas station and say they found eight snakes at his home. A total of 12 pythons were seized, according to police.

"It's not like I kept them unresponsibly [sic]," Dean told MyFOXTampaBay. "I kept them all in locked cages and in a locked room. It's not like they would have got out like that incident with the 2-year-old."

Last month, a Burmese python being kept as a pet escaped from its aquarium and strangled a 2-year-old girl in Florida as she slept in her crib.