Latest news with #CustomsOfficials
NHK
4 days ago
- NHK
Live eel imports peak at Narita Airport in Japan
Eel imports are at their peak at Narita Airport, near Tokyo, before demand rises in Japan. July 19 and 31 mark the Day of the Ox in midsummer this year. People in Japan traditionally eat eel on those days to maintain their stamina during the summer heat. Aircraft carrying more than 2 tons of eel in total arrived at the airport from China and Taiwan on Wednesday. Customs officials took out live eels from containers to check whether they match details on their documents. The officials said that live eels are imported by air to keep their freshness, and about 6,500 tons, or around 80 percent of the country's live eel imports, arrived through Narita Airport last year. An importer says prices remain high as in the previous year due to a poor catch of glass eels over the past several years.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Washington Post
Roughly 1,500 tarantulas found stuffed in boxes meant for chocolate cake
Customs officials smelled that something was amiss even before they unpacked roughly 1,500 tarantulas that had been hidden in boxes that should have been filled with about 15 pounds of chocolate-flavored cake. The tarantulas — large and hairy arachnids — were in a packet addressed to be shipped from Vietnam to North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. The venomous spiders were crammed into small plastic containers that were then filled into the bright-red cake boxes.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- The Guardian
About 1,500 tarantulas found hidden in cake boxes at German airport
Arachnophobes beware: customs officials have released photos from a seizure of roughly 1,500 young tarantulas found inside plastic containers that were hidden in chocolate sponge cake boxes shipped to an airport in western Germany. Customs officials said on Monday they had found the shipment at Cologne Bonn airport in a package that had arrived from Vietnam. A Cologne customs office spokesperson, Jens Ahland, said they had been tipped off by a 'noticeable smell' that did not resemble the expected aroma of the 7kg (about 15lb) of the confectionery treats. 'My colleagues at the airport are regularly surprised by the contents of prohibited packages from all over the world, but the fact that they found around 1,500 small plastic containers containing young tarantulas in this package left even the most experienced among them speechless,' Ahland said in a statement. Ahland hailed an 'extraordinary seizure', but one that 'saddens us to see what some people do to animals purely for profit'. Many of the eight-legged creatures did not survive the trip, in a suspected violation of German animal welfare rules, while survivors were given to the care of an expert handler, the office said. Reached by phone, Ahland said the estimated value of the shipment was being assessed. Criminal proceedings are under way against the intended recipient in the Sauerland region, east of the airport, in part for alleged violations of failure to pay the proper import duties and make the proper customs declarations, the office said. The tarantulas were discovered about three weeks ago, but the customs office only made the images public on Monday.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Yahoo
Airport authorities make horrifying discovery after noticing movement in traveler's luggage: 'Inflicts untold harm'
An Indian man was arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle monkeys and tortoises into India after a trip to Thailand. The incident occurred at the international airport in Chennai, India. The Week reports that customs officials became suspicious of a passenger's luggage after a flight landed from Bangkok. Officials examined the man's checked luggage, and inside one bag, they found two ventilated bags and a taped-up cloth bag. "On closer inspection, movements were noticed inside the ventilated bags," customs officials said in a release. At that point, officials found two African black monkeys, each hidden inside a separate ventilated bag, and seven African tortoises wrapped inside the cloth bag. The passenger, a 40-year-old man from Chennai, had just returned from a trip to Thailand, DT Next reports. He could not provide proper documentation for the animals, so he was arrested under India's Customs Act and Wildlife Protection Act. The animals were sent back to Thailand. The United Nations' latest World Wildlife Crime Report found that, from 2015 to 2021, illegal trading affected roughly 4,000 plant and animal species and occurred in more than 160 countries and territories. Recently, Malaysian law enforcement discovered nearly 2,000 pounds of body parts from endangered green sea turtles during the routine patrol of a boat off the Sabah coast. In Indonesia, officials stopped an operation that attempted to smuggle hundreds of songbirds from Bali to Central Java. In that example, 32 of the birds had sadly passed away by the time they were found. That's an unfortunate reality of many animal-smuggling operations, as the animals are typically placed in cramped spaces, without access to the food, water, and light they desperately need. Do you think we should be trying to pull pollution out of the atmosphere? Absolutely I need to know more In some situations No way Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Even if animals survive their journey, they can cause major damage to their new ecosystems. Anytime a foreign animal is introduced to a new locale, it could become an invasive species — one which spreads quickly in its new surroundings and steals valuable resources from native plants and wildlife. Just like many countries, India has strong laws against trafficking wildlife. But, as the U.N. notes, much illegal smuggling is connected with some of the world's largest organized crime groups. To truly improve conditions for wildlife and to slow this abhorrent practice, the U.N. says that more consistent and comprehensive data is needed on wildlife crime. This will require significant investment, not just at the country level, but also globally. "Wildlife crime inflicts untold harm upon nature, and it also jeopardizes livelihoods, public health, good governance and our planet's ability to fight climate change," Ghada Waly, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said in a release. "To address this crime, we must match the adaptability and agility of the illegal wildlife trade." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Times of Oman
02-07-2025
- Times of Oman
Indian traveller arrested for smuggling marijuana at Muscat International Airport
Muscat: Customs officials at Muscat International Airport have successfully thwarted an attempt by an Indian traveller who was smuggling 5.3 kilograms of marijuana into the Sultanate of Oman.
