These images show customs officers discovering smuggled reptiles and insects inside packages that were being sent through the post disguised as toys.
The incident took place in Shanghai, in China, on 21st March.
The footage shows the customs officers opening packages and revealing the rare insects and small reptiles, apparently meant to be sold as exotic pets, inside plastic boxes.
Customs officers from the Shanghai Post Office, operating under the Shanghai Customs, became suspicious when a scan of packages revealed they contained live animals.
They opened the packages and found one live gecko, two centipedes, five spiders, and two boxes of mealworms for feed.
They were identified as a common house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus), Dehaani centipedes (Scolopendra dehaani; also known as giant Vietnamese centipedes), Dawydoffi centipedes (Scolopendra dawydoffi), tailless sea spiders (Sarax yayukae), Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini) and Heteropoda spiders.
At least three of them are considered alien species in China and may cause harm to the local ecosystem if they found their way into the country.
It is unclear if any arrests were made as a result of the bust.
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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