What happened at an airport in Peru, where a passenger tried to leave the country with hundreds of tarantulas and other animals, was unimaginable. It was the security checks at Jorge Chávez International Airport that nabbed a wildlife trafficker.
The seizure took place in recent days. This was reported by the National Forestry and Wildlife Service of Peru (SERFOR), which together with the customs authorities and the Peruvian national police stopped a 28-year-old traveler of Korean origins.
The man carried on his body 320 tarantulas, 110 millipedes and 9 bullet ants. The cargo had been placed in bags closed with duct tape and smaller containers, all attached to the subject’s body.
Among the tarantulas seized, 35 were adult specimens of the species Paphobeteus antinous, as big as a hand. The citizen intended to reach Korea via France, but something made the airport security officials suspicious.
The man’s belly, in fact, appeared swollen. The sad discovery was made when asked to lift his shirt. The Environmental Prosecutor’s Office (FEMA) opened an investigation into the case and the wildlife trafficker was put in handcuffs.
The animals were taken into custody. According to SERFOR wildlife specialist Walter Silva, they come from the Peruvian Amazon. Furthermore, tarantulas are listed in the list of threatened species in Peru.
They would have been sold to collectors or kept as pets in a business that moves, as Silva specified, “millions of dollars around the world”. The authorities are aware of this, but despite the measures taken and the controls strengthened, the illegal trade in wildlife remains very serious threat to global biodiversity.
Unfortunately, precisely in the periods close to the Christmas holidays there is an increase in the trafficking of wild species and this latest episode is nothing more than yet another confirmation.
