Man Caught Smuggling 320 Tarantulas and 110 Centipedes Out of Peru by Strapping Them to His Body

Mar. 15, 2025

One of the 320 tarantulas.Photo:gob.pe

gob.pe

Security officials at Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport stopped the alleged smuggler, a 28-year-old South Korean man, on Nov. 8 because his stomach appeared abnormally swollen while he was passing through security, Peru’s National Forest and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) said in apress release.

The man, who was not identified, was asked to lift his shirt, revealing two belts that had been adorned with camouflaged bags and packages containing tarantulas and other bugs, according to the wildlife service.

Specialists with the government agency later tallied the concealed critters, counting 35 adult tarantulas, 285 juvenile tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants.

Some of the tarantulas a man tried to smuggle out of Peru.gob.pe

The adult tarantulas were described as human hand-sized, each taking up a large plastic container, while the juveniles shared space in small tubes that were stuffed from either end to prevent their escape, as seen in photos of the confiscated specimens.

All of the creatures are native to the Peruvian Amazon, and the tarantulas, specifically, are on Peru’s list of endangered species, Walter Silva, a wildlife specialist at SERFOR, explained in the release.

The agency believes they were extracted from Madre de Dios, a biodiverse region whose forests make up 12% of the Peruvian Amazon, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

A collection of insects a man tried to smuggle out of Peru.gob.pe

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Silva said he believes the illegally extracted bugs are part of a global trade in which wildlife is smuggled and sold for high prices, generating millions of dollars.

He also explained that smuggling cases like these arise more often as Christmas nears, as illegally trafficked critters tend to fetch higher prices during the holiday season.

The juvenile tarantulas a man attempted to smuggle out of Peru.gob.pe

This smuggler, in particular, was headed to Korea with a planned stop in France, according to the press release.

The National Police of Peru arrested the man, and the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into the case.

The creatures, meanwhile, have been moved from their overcrowded storage and put in a safe place, SERFOR said.

source: people.com