Man Caught at Swiss Airport Trying to Smuggle Tarantulas
A Swiss man returning home from the Dominican Republic was busted by custom officials at the Zurich airport with a whopping 261 endangered Mexican tarantulas, which he had packed into individual plastic bags and stuffed in his luggage.
The bugs were headed for a local dealer, and when Swiss authorities raided said dealers home, they found 665 more tarantulas, and 72 giant flesh-eating centipedes.
In total, the illegal insects could have fetched closed to $17,000 on the open market.
Animal smuggling isn’t uncommon in Switzerland. In fact, wildlife is the third most trafficked item in the European nation after drugs and weapons.
More From WFNT
