Welshman caught smuggling exotic spiders out of Brazil

A twenty-six year old Briton was arrested by the police at the Rio de Janeiro airport for reportedly trying to smuggle around a 1,000 live spiders. Lee Arden was caught with over 900 arachnoids in his suitcase, when he tried to board a flight from Brazil to London. Routine security checks, in which passenger baggage is screened, revealed live spiders boxed in two separate containers.

The accused is said to have bought each of those spiders for three pounds and had meant to sell them in his shop—named the Spider Shop—in west Wales for around thirty pounds each. A few tarantulas were also present. Around three hundred spiders were classified as being native to Brazil. These spiders have reportedly not been bred in captivity.

Another 600 of the spiders seemingly were of species common to Paraguay.

Illegal trafficking of animals incurs a fine up to 1.30million pounds, in Brazil. However, the accused was fined around fifty thousand pounds. He also faces the possibility of a prison sentence of six months to a year in prison on the count of not having authorization from the Brazilian Institute for Environment and Renewable Resources, for carrying his creepy-crawly merchandise.

The fine is to a large extentconsidered to be a greater punishment—and deterrent—and Rio officials have hinted he may not be sent to prison.Mr. Arden has been asked to stay in Brazil for the next twenty days to present his defense. He is presently out on bail.

The Rio airport authorities are also investigating if there was any other intention other than just selling the spiders. Investigations are being carried out in case any other reasons, such as venom extraction for manufacturing of drugs , are present.