Sydney — U.S. and Australian authorities are investigating the smuggling of snakes and venomous spiders that were found in a parcel in Sydney, an official said Wednesday.
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Customs Service officers in Australia's biggest city discovered five harmless pythons and two dangerous South American tarantulas at the Sydney airport last week when they X-rayed a package that had been posted from the United States, Customs investigations manager Richard Janeczko said.
The creatures were later killed because they posed a quarantine risk, Janeczko said in the capital, Canberra.
Janeczko would not say from where in the United States the parcel — declared as baby toys and shirts — had been posted.
He said Australian officials based in Washington were communicating with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on a U.S. investigation into who had sent the parcel.
In Australia, charges were expected to be laid against at least one alleged importer after customs officers and police raided a Sydney home Tuesday and seized evidence, Janeczko said.
Importing snakes or spiders without a license can attract maximum penalties of 10 years in prison and a $92,000 fine.
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