Customs seizes 119 smuggled live tarantulas at NAIA

Operatives of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has prevented an attempt of illegal wildlife trade this week.

In a statement on Friday, BOC said it intercepted 119 live tarantulas concealed inside rubber shoes in a DHL warehouse last October 28.

The parcel, declared as “buty” or Polish word for shoes, was shipped by a certain “Michal Krolicki” from Poland to a consignee in General Trias, Cavite.

Through the vigilance of Customs operatives and examiners, the package yielded suspicious images, and was subjected to physical examination, according to the BOC.

It said Customs examiners uncovered different species of live tarantulas in individual plastic vials.

The seized tarantulas were immediately turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit (DENR WTMU) on October 29 for proper handling and disposal.

In 2019, the BOC-NAIA intercepted 757 live tarantulas concealed inside oatmeal and cookie boxes and 87 live spiders inside white plastic canisters, both exported from Poland.

Tarantulas are classified as endangered wildlife species, and illegal wildlife trading is penalized with imprisonment of six months and one day to one year and a fine of P10,000.00 to P200,000.00 pursuant to Republic Act (RA) No. 9147 or Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act; while unlawful importation is penalized with not less than 30 days and one day but not more than six months or a fine of not less than P25,000.00 but not more than P75,000.00, or both, if the appraised value of goods unlawfully imported, including duties and taxes, does not exceed P250,000.00 under Section 1401 of RA 10863 or Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

The BOC-NAIA said it will sustain collective effort to protect the country’s premiere airport against all fraudulent attempts to import and/or export endangered wildlife species, aside from dangerous drugs and other high risk and dangerous contrabands that are threat to national security and public health.—AOL, GMA News