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.

[Kansas City Star]