Some 143 tarantulas about to embark for Mexico were seized on Thursday at Bogota airport (Colombia).
The authorities there were carrying out an operation to combat animal trafficking, according to the Colombian Ministry of the Environment.
The spiders, 12 of which were found dead from asphyxiation, were hidden in plastic bags on board a cargo plane.
The cargo "did not have the documents certifying its origin" nor the authorizations allowing its legal transport, indicates a press release from the ministry.
Cargo companies noticed something suspicious with a shipment of board games being sent from Colombia to Mexico City – 143 tarantulas were discovered inside.
pic.twitter.com/tkER8ygang
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 31, 2022
Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent
By clicking on "
I ACCEPT
", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners
I ACCEPT
And to better remunerate 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our "I accept for today" button in the banner below.
More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.
Severely repressed traffic
Colombian police have opened an investigation to identify the "sender and recipient" of the hundred spiders.
Last November, 232 tarantulas destined for Europe had already been seized by the country's authorities.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), tarantulas are sold illegally as prized in the pet market, due to their docile nature and their colors.
Colombian law provides very significant criminal penalties and fines for those accused of animal trafficking.
Planet
Indonesia: Birth of a Sumatran rhinoceros in a reserve, good news for the species
Planet
United States: 1.75 million wild animals killed in one year by federal services
Spider
Bogotá
Airport
Colombia
Animals
Traffic
World
0 comment
0 share
Share on Messenger
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Flipboard
Share on Pinterest
Share on Linkedin
Send by Mail
To safeguard
A fault ?
To print