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Contraband in a country is a dirty affair, especially when goods illegally transported are drugs or weapons. In the Philippines, a man was caught smuggling contraband goods from Poland in boxes designed to look like biscuits and other treats. What the customs officers found while looking inside did not correspond to the packaging.
As Associated press According to reports, boxes packed in gift packs contained fewer than 757 living tarantulas, all destined for new homes in the Philippines. The arachnids, which were to be sold illegally to collectors and enthusiasts, have now caused a lot of problems for the recipient.
In the Philippines, collectors and traders of such creatures need a permit that most people do not bother to obtain. Because of this, a black market for poisoners has emerged and smugglers regularly try to transport creatures while flying under the radar of the police.
In this case, spiders were labeled as "collection items" in the customs process, but customs officers quickly understood what was actually hidden in the packages. The man who arrived to pick up the parcels was subsequently arrested and will probably be sentenced to a very heavy fine or even a jail sentence.
The arachnids concealed in the boxes were stored in small containers with perforated air holes. Packages containing large adult spiders and smaller tarantula babies have been found, and the authorities attribute the value of the animals to about $ 6,000.
It goes without saying, but the smuggling of living creatures is a rather mediocre enterprise. Tarantulas may not be exactly the kind of adorable creatures shown on environmental posters, but they still do not have to be packed in cookie boxes and smuggled by hundreds into foreign countries.
Image Source: BOC / HANDOUT / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock
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