American arachnologist Lorenzo Prendini was busted in Turkey for an alleged smuggling attempt.
Prendini curates arachnids from all over the world and it’s not the first time he’s run afoul of the law in another country. He has been a curator with the museum for more than 20 years. The curator was arrested by Turkish police in Istanbul for smuggling over what he claims was a misunderstanding. He appeared before a judge and was released without being charged.
“Police arrested the suspect at Istanbul Airport on Sunday and seized dozens of bags from his luggage containing some 1,500 scorpions and spiders, including tarantulas, as well as dozens of plastic bottles containing unspecified liquids, police said,” Reuters reported.
He’s not entirely out of the woods yet on charges however, according to Reuters, “Police said the specimens seized were endemic to Turkey and that their DNA could be copied and their poisons milked for use in making medicines. The suspect faces charges under anti-smuggling law, it added without giving a name. ‘It is understood that these medicines have very high financial values and therefore taking these animal species abroad is strictly forbidden’, [Turkish Police] said.”
(Video Credit: NBC News)
Valuable indeed, albeit creepy. According to Turkish police, the market value of one liter of ‘medicine’ that is obtained from scorpion venom fetches about $10 million.
“Video published by the Demiroren News Agency showed officers searching hand luggage and removing plastic bags that appeared to be packed with dead spiders and scorpions,” CBS News reported. “The museum’s website lists Prendini as the curator of its spider, scorpion, centipede, and millipede collections. It says his research into spiders and scorpions has taken him to more than 30 countries on every continent except Antarctica.”
Although the samples that the curator was attempting to bring to the US were dead, exposure to their poisons or the risk of disease is a concern to many. Not to mention the fear that maybe something survived or had viable offspring.
Prendini claimed after he was arrested that the police had “disregarded permits from the Turkish government to conduct his research in collaboration with Turkish scientists,” according to the Associated Press.
Natural History Museum curator detained in Turkey for trying to smuggle 1,500 spider, scorpion samples: An American Museum of Natural History curator was detained in Istanbul after allegedly attempting to smuggle 1,500 spider,… https://t.co/RB2cVblsgl #Trump2024 #NahBabyNah pic.twitter.com/fQzhGdNbYa
— NahBabyNah (@NahBabyNah) May 14, 2024
“The police completely ignored this and relied on the testimony of an ‘expert’ who has a conflict of interest with my collaborators … and whose scientific research is highly questionable,” he charged. “The police have completely violated due process and it appears they would like to find me guilty in the court of public opinion.”
Similar incidents have occurred in the US as well.
“In 2022, an Oregon man was sentenced in federal court for importing and exporting hundreds of live scorpions to and from Germany,” CBS News reported.
Users sounded off on X with a wide range of comments:
“Used to make medicine” there’s your reason. Spider and scorpion venom has proven to kill certain difficult-to-treat cancers. So each dose is about $50,000.
— ✡️⚾️ (@magmystical2023) May 14, 2024
No one ever treated Indiana Jones this way
— Woke Golden Boy (@wokegoldenboy) May 14, 2024
Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/3UE7DXvi3C
— Resul (@Resulbaba1976) May 14, 2024
Smuggling bugs?
— Old School Eddie (@Old_SchoolEddie) May 14, 2024
Out of all the things I’ve heard people smuggling… this one is unique
— American Ryno (@American_rayan) May 14, 2024
Good grief.
— AUGal1981 (@augrad1981) May 14, 2024
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Author: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
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