In brief
Last week, a bizarre incident unfolded at Lima's international airport when customs officials noticed a 28-year-old South Korean man with a suspiciously bulging belly while preparing for his flight to South Korea, which included a stopover in France. Upon request, he lifted his shirt to reveal a shocking sight: he was concealing 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes, and nine bullet ants, all in individual plastic bags concealed with filter paper and fastened with strong adhesive tape to girdles around his body.
According to the National Forest and Wildlife Service of Peru, this daring smuggling attempt involved 35 adult tarantulas, each comparable in size to an average human hand, along with 285 juvenile specimens. These creatures, native to Peru's Amazon basin, are classified as endangered species. Walter Silva, a wildlife specialist, emphasized that all collected specimens were taken illegally and were part of a substantial illegal wildlife trafficking operation that generates millions of dollars globally.The authorities arrested the man and have initiated an investigation, although specific charges have yet to be disclosed, and his identity remains under wraps.
