A South Korean man has been arrested after trying to fly out of Peru’s capital with hundreds of tarantulas strapped to his body.
The suspected smuggler concealed more than 300 spiders, around 100 centipedes and nine stinging bullet ants in small plastic bags at Lima Airport, according to reports.
Reuters and ABC News reported the unnamed 28-year-old was thwarted in his plans when airport security guards noticed his enlarged stomach area.
Pilar Ayala, a biologist with SERFOR (Peru's National Forestry and Wildlife Service), said he was called to Jorge Chavez International Airport.
"In the report they indicated that they found a Korean citizen in possession of wildlife specimens,” she said.
"It was observed that the citizen had placed these specimens in small ziploc bags with filter paper.
"They were placed around his body, contained by two girdles."
SERFOR can be called out for times when it seems that tarantulas are seemingly smuggled and sold for high prices as exotic pets.
Ms Ayala added that the man was arrested and the insects were taken in for safekeeping by the authorities.
Alice Hughes, a biology professor at Hong Kong University, told the Telegraph that collectors are trying to get as many species as possible and do not care about the means.
She said: “Tarantulas are especially vulnerable to poaching because they’re long-lived - some reach 30 years old - and females reproduce late and infrequently.”
