Creepy cargo: Philippines seizes 757 tarantulas from Poland

[TomSea]

Creepy cargo: Philippines seizes 757 tarantulas from Poland
By Associated Press April 3

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine customs officials were astonished when they opened nicely gift-wrapped boxes of cookies and oatmeal flown in all the way from Poland and found a hair-raising contraband: hundreds of live tarantulas.

Bureau of Customs personnel seized the 757 tarantulas at a mail exchange center near Manila’s international airport Monday and later arrested a Filipino man who tried to claim the long-legged and venomous spiders, which were declared as “collection items.”

Read more at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/creepy-cargo-philippines-seizes-757-tarantulas-from-poland/2019/04/03/a312c7a8-55e9-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html

The article does not make it clear where these creatures actually came from.  However, at the link, it talks about lizards whom I am sure, would not be coming from Poland. So, these are probably from somewhere in Asia. BUT...there is another article  saying they were smuggled from Poland.

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/04/03/breaking-news/philippines-seizes-757-smuggled-tarantulas-from-poland/