“We received a report from the security staff at the Jorge Chaves International Airport,” said Pilar Ayala, a biologist with SERFOR (Peru’s National Forestry and Wildlife Service). “In the report they indicated that they found a Korean citizen in possession of wildlife specimens.”
Security staff at the airport became suspicious when they noticed that a 28-year-old South Korean passenger had an “unusually swollen” stomach, according to local reporting referenced by Reuters.
“It was observed that the citizen had placed these specimens in small ziploc bags with filter paper,” Ayala continued. “They were placed around his body, contained by two girdles.”
Authorities reported the suspect was attempting to smuggle 320 tarantulas (35 of which were the size of a human hand), 110 centipedes, and nine bullet ants on his body.