Peruvian police arrested a man trying to leave the country with 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine Cape Verde ants tied to his body.
The 28-year-old South Korean man was arrested at Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport on Nov. 8 after officials noticed his stomach area appeared “bulky,” according to a statement from the National Forest and Wildlife Service. country, SERFOR, published on November 13th.
A search revealed hundreds of insects packed in ziplock bags tied to his abdomen, according to the statement.
The insects were packed in containers and plastic bags tied to the man’s abdomen (SERFOR/Reuters via CNN Newsource)
Police arrested the man, who was traveling to South Korea via France, and Peru’s environmental crimes prosecutor opened an investigation, he added.
The insects are believed to have been taken from the Madre de Dios region in the Peruvian Amazon. They are currently in the care of authorities.
Tarantulas are an endangered species, explained Walter Silva, SERFOR wildlife specialist, in the statement.
SERFOR employees display the confiscated insects (SERFOR/Reuters via CNN Newsource)
“They were all illegally harvested and are part of the illegal wildlife trade worth millions of dollars around the world,” said Silva.
Peru is not the only South American nation facing problems with wildlife trafficking.
In December 2021, authorities in Colombia seized at least 232 tarantulas, 67 cockroaches, nine spider eggs and a scorpion with seven hatchlings, all hidden in a suitcase at El Dorado airport in Bogotá.
And in September of that year, Colombian authorities confiscated a shipment of almost 3,500 shark fins destined for Hong Kong.
