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A South Korean national, who had 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants strapped to his body, was arrested in Peru. On November 8, the 28-year-old was stopped at the Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima after security officials got suspicious. They noticed the area around his stomach was "bulky," as per CNN.
During the search, authorities found hundreds of insects packed inside ziplock bags and strapped to the man's abdomen.
The smuggler, who was supposed to travel to South Korea via France, was detained, while the environmental crimes prosecutor in Peru initiated a thorough investigation into the matter.
During the initial inquiry, it came to light that these inspects might have been taken from the Madre de Dios region in the Peruvian Amazon. For now, the insects are in the care of the authorities in Peru.
The ziplock bags were all reinforced with strong adhesive tape and carefully attached to two girdles wrapped around the man's body, The New York Times reported.
Among the 320 tarantulas being smuggled, 285 were juvenile, while 35 were adults.
Walter Silva, a wildlife specialist at SERFOR, said in the official statement tarantulas are a threatened species. “They were all illegally extracted and are part of illegal wildlife trafficking worth millions of dollars globally,” Silva said.
Such cases of illegal wildlife trafficking usually witness a spike before Christmas, he said, adding, that the smuggled animals help these people fetch extra money during this time. They are bought as exotic pets or simply for collection, Silva said.
In South America, Peru is not the only country facing the challenge of wildlife trafficking.
In December 2021, at least 232 tarantulas, 67 cockroaches, nine spider eggs and a scorpion with seven of its young ones were seized by authorities from a suitcase at the El Dorado airport in Bogota, Colombia.