Peru’s National Forest and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) said officials seized more than 3,000 tarantulas at Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport, including a species Peru lists as vulnerable, from luggage carried by travelers bound for Germany.
The bags belonged to two German nationals and one Polish national, all preparing to fly to Germany. SERFOR said the spiders were concealed in socks across three suitcases; the haul included eggs, young spiders and adults.
SERFOR named Pamphobeteus antinous, which Peru classifies as vulnerable under its protected-fauna list. The agency said species identification was still underway and had not provided a final inventory.
Police specializing in environmental crimes detained the travelers. SERFOR said they would face criminal proceedings. The agency said the tarantulas may have been intended for collectors, research or the pet trade, but it identified no buyer or final destination.
“We noticed that some of them were moving,” Cora Suarez, a SERFOR wildlife-control technician, told AFP. Suarez put the European price at about €500 per tarantula. AFP estimated the shipment’s potential value at roughly €1.5 million, a figure that does not represent confirmed sales or proceeds.
INTERPOL said in 2023 the global illegal-wildlife market was valued at as much as $20 billion annually. That estimate covers illegal wildlife products generally; it does not value this shipment or measure spider trafficking separately.
In a separate enforcement effort, INTERPOL said Operation Thunder 2025 recorded 4,640 seizures in 134 countries from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, 2025. The operation covered wildlife and forestry trafficking, so its totals do not describe this case or tarantula seizures alone.
SERFOR said the animals would be assessed before placement at an authorized breeding center. The agency did not announce a transfer date.
