Live spiders from Poland seized at foreign post office

Customs have recovered live spiders, species of Central American region, at the Foreign Post Office here upon opening a parcel that had arrived from Poland, an official said on Friday.

Acting on inputs that some invertebrate species were being brought into the country, the Commissioner of Customs, in a press release, said that after opening the parcel, 107 small plastic vials wrapped in silver foil and cotton were found.

On examination, each vial had live spiders in it and the parcel was addressed to a person in Aruppukottai in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu.

The WildLife Crime Control Bureau officials and scientists of the Zoological Survey of India identified them to be spiders with nativity of Central America and Mexico.

It was decided to send the parcel back to Poland as there was no DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) licence nor health-related documents of import into India, the release added.