A COMPOSITE team of government agents stationed at the General Santos International Airport on Tuesday (Sept. 16) foiled an attempt to smuggle into the country a shipment of wild spiders.
The joint team consisting of operatives from the Philippine National Police – Aviation Security Group (PNP-Avsegroup), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) intercepted six boxes containing live wild spiders of the Neoscona species.
The origin of the arachnids was not disclosed, but documents showed that the consignees were based in Tarlac City, Tarlac; Lipa City, Batangas; Valenzuela City, Metro Manila; Carmona City, Cavite; and Ibaan, Batangas.
An inventory of the package conducted by the Support Staff of the Monitoring and Enforcement Section of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in General Santos City, showed a total of 278 Neoscona spiders.
The shipment was confiscated and the insects transferred to the custody of the CENRO-DENR Region 12 Office for monitoring and safekeeping.
On August 22, the same team of operatives in General Santos also intercepted and seized a cargo box containing 1,902 Neoscona spiders bound to Iloilo.
“Having intercepted similar cases in the past, we remain dedicated to enhancing our efforts and collaborating closely with partner agencies to ensure our airports are free from illegal wildlife trade,” said Avsegroup director Brig. Gen. Jay Cumigad.
