INTERNATIONAL: Colombian authorities seized hundreds of creepy crawlies as they were being taken illegally to Europe via the airport in capital city Bogota on Thursday. The district's Environment Ministry and the airport police have recently seized over 309 wildlife specimens which were going to be transported by two German citizens at the airport with 210 plastic containers. Authorities have found 232 tarantulas - grown spiders-, one scorpion with its nine younglings, nine spider eggs and 67 roaches inside the cargo.

Colombia, which is one of the world's 17 mega-diverse countries and boasts tens of thousands of different species, is a target for wildlife traffickers drawn by its biodiversity.More than 11,000 specimens have been seized during 2021 so far.

In September Colombian authorities have confiscated a shipment of 3,493 shark fins equivalent to between 900 and 1,000 sharks - which were to be illegally trafficked to Hong Kong.

The would-be German traffickers have argued that they were shipping the spiders, scorpions and cockroaches for academic reasons but authorities have claimed they did not have the permits to do so.The insects are being examined by professionals who will later decide whether to free or relocate them.