Agents of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport seized 10 smuggled spiders from Poland worth P75,000 during an operation against a consignee in Pasay City.
NAIA Customs District Collector Carmelita Talusan said the shipment was concealed in a postal envelope with scraps of paper and declared as “origami”.
Through X-ray scanning and a thorough physical examination, Talusan said the shipment was found to contain 10 pieces of smuggled spiders. The person who tried to claim the package was collared at the Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) in Pasay City.
The seized spiders were immediately turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit (DENR WTMU).
To date a total of 1,010 wildlife species have been intercepted by the Port. Among these were species such as beetles, tarantulas, centipedes and ornithoctonus black spiders.