Swiss seize suitcase full of smuggled spiders

BlackVenom

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 28, 2010
Messages
39
Don't know if this is new or old news??


"GENEVA (AP) — Swiss customs officials say they intercepted a man at Zurich airport carrying hundreds of endangered spiders in his luggage.
Customs officials found 261 Mexican red-kneed tarantulas packed into individual plastic bags inside six boxes belonging to a Swiss man arriving from the Dominican Republic in August.
Officials said Wednesday that the shipment was destined for an unidentified Swiss dealer.
A search of the dealer's home uncovered 665 further tarantulas and 72 giant flesh-eating centipedes that had also been smuggled into Switzerland. Together they could have sold for up to 15,000 Swiss francs ($16,700).
Experts say animals are the third-most trafficked item in Switzerland after weapons and drugs."


http://news.yahoo.com/swiss-seize-suitcase-full-smuggled-spiders-151852977.html
 

Verneph

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 16, 2011
Messages
144
He stuffed them into those tiny little bags? That's just disgusting. Most of the spiders probably died in transit that way.

Also:
...72 giant flesh-eating centipedes...
Careful children, or the giant centipedes will rip your face off. :wall:

---------- Post added 10-20-2011 at 12:25 PM ----------

Okay, sorry to double post but I just had to share this little gem of a comment:

Leave them in the bags until they're all dead, then sink the corpses in a very deep lake. And throw the spider-dealers into prison until they are old and grey. Bad enough that these little horrors exist in Mexico without bringing hundreds of them into Europe.

- Anthony, California, USA, 20/10/2011 13:09
Hear that dealers? You should all be in jail, apparently.
 

DannyH

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Messages
350
He stuffed them into those tiny little bags? That's just disgusting. Most of the spiders probably died in transit that way.
I agree. I mean, if your going to go though the trouble of smuggling spiders, why not even make sure they're alive?
 

Eclipse

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 6, 2007
Messages
471
Customs officials found 261 Mexican red-kneed tarantulas
Is is really that easy to find 261 red-knees in Mexico? I'd love to live near the place he found them.

72 giant flesh-eating centipedes
Amazing.... media media media...

Experts say animals are the third-most trafficked item in Switzerland after weapons and drugs.
Experts of what? Seriously lol :laugh:
 

1hughjazzspider

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
242
God, reading some of the things in that article GoTerps gave the link to just makes people assume this hobby is worse than they likely already think it is. "The Mexican Red-Knee is mildly poisonous to humans." You've got to be kidding me. Plus the fact that they showed their value on "The Black Market" just makes it sounds worse, like this is an illegal hobby or something. Damn the media.
 

Poxicator

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
354
I think the flesh eating tag refers to necrotising issues that have been reported.

As for plastic bags, this has been successfully used to transport tarantula. Its not my method, but you can see there are air holes in the bags.

I think this shows a terrible light on the hobby. The demand must be so great for adult Brachypelma that illegal exports are necessary, especially considering Mexico itself has a controlled export farm where tarantula can be purchased!
 

angrychair

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
61
and this is why there are population issues with the mexican red knee :( I wish people wouldn't even buy wild caught unless it was under a good circumstance, like to establish a breeding population in captivity etc... I realize everything came from something wild caught, but there are reasons we breed them.
 

metallica

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Messages
2,512
and this is why there are population issues with the mexican red knee :( I wish people wouldn't even buy wild caught unless it was under a good circumstance, like to establish a breeding population in captivity etc... I realize everything came from something wild caught, but there are reasons we breed them.
are there population issues with Brachypelma species? i know habitat destruction is a problem at the moment... but that is about all.....

also, can you tell a wildcaught tarantula from a captive bred one?
 

RJ2

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 2, 2010
Messages
67
crazy "Experts say animals are the third-most trafficked item in Switzerland after weapons and drugs."
 

zonbonzovi

Creeping beneath you
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
3,346
I think the flesh eating tag refers to necrotising issues that have been reported.
Might you have a citation? I've heard many rumors about centipede venom but necrosis is definitely a first. I hope they weren't referring to the plethora of online photos with keepers sharing a little chicken/bacon/salami with their myriapod charges. Then again, 'flesh eating' is certainly more sensational then 'salami loving'.

As for the smithis, to smuggle a bunch of adults of which there is already a large CB population is just friggin' greedy(not that there is any good reason to smuggle animals). Too bad he wasn't intercepted in the DR.
 

sebeed

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
45
flesh eating centipedes? "The Mexican red-kneed tarantulas - which are mildly poisonous to humans"
do reporters not do any research at all anymore?

Also...how the !@#$ did this man think that putting all those smithi's in plastic bags was a good idea? did his brain not comprehend that that wouldn't be the best for the safety of the tarantula? why would he waste his time finding so many red knees and then shove them in those little bags...

FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
 

DannyH

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Messages
350
As for plastic bags, this has been successfully used to transport tarantula.
How so? I would think that they would just get crushed since they are so loose. Many in in the picture are in weird positions.
 

High_Rolling_T

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 8, 2010
Messages
140
How so? I would think that they would just get crushed since they are so loose. Many in in the picture are in weird positions.
According to the article, only 10 died. A 96.2% survival rate isn't bad considering the size and style of the shipment.
 

Poxicator

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
354
Tarantula don't breathe much, think about the amount of oxygen that would exist in their burrows, and then consider how they breathe - by oxygen passing over their lungs.
I believe there's an article on T-store (a UK site) that suggests using bags to transport Ts but obviously the bag would be packaged so that there was ample padding. The beauty of it is once you unwrap the packaging you know exactly where the tarantula is, rather than some concealed tube etc.
Of course, looking at this system from the newspapers point of view suggests an inhumane way to pack, and they will always quote deaths as that's an alarmist reaction.
However, as I say, its not something Ive used before, and Im not suggesting its the best way, but I do know of some people who believe it to be a great part of the packaging.
 
Top