A curator on the American Museum of Pure Historical past was detained in Istanbul on Monday whereas allegedly trying to smuggle spider and scorpion samples, Turkish media reported.
Lorenzo Prendini, an professional on arachnids on the New York-based museum, was held by police at Istanbul Airport whereas allegedly making an attempt to take about 1,500 samples in another country, information shops reported.
The state-run Anadolu information company reported that Prendini was detained for allegedly trying to smuggle species present in Turkey. The company reported that 88 bottles containing liquids and roughly 1,500 scorpions, tarantulas and spiders endemic to Turkey have been seized from his baggage. The outlet mentioned that DNA from the species can be utilized to provide medicine.
A liter of scorpion venom could be value about $10 million, an professional inTurkey informed Reuters.
Video printed by the Demiroren Information Company confirmed officers looking hand baggage and eradicating plastic baggage that gave the impression to be filled with lifeless spiders and scorpions.
The museum’s web site lists Prendini because the curator of its spider, scorpion, centipede and millipede collections. It says his analysis into spiders and scorpions has taken him to greater than 30 international locations on each continent besides Antarctica
In 2022, an Oregon man was sentenced in federal court docket for importing and exporting tons of of stay scorpions to and from Germany.
