She said it was a gift: woman arrested with 130 poisonous frogs in her suitcase

La grenouille arlequin, est une espèce en danger critique d'extinction. Illustration unsplash – Zachary Spears

Une Brésilienne a été arrêtée à l'aéroport de Bogota ce 29 janvier 2024 en possession de 130 grenouilles venimeuses dans sa valise.

The woman of Brazilian origin was traveling to São Paulo when she was stopped by police at Bogota airport. In his suitcase, authorities discovered 130 rainbow-colored harlequin frogs, reports HuffPost.

Although they are the size of a thumb, these frogs are very venomous. The toxic substance that they generate on their skin is traditionally used by indigenous populations to hunt.

Up to 13 million euros fine

Asked about the contents of her luggage, the woman claimed to have received the amphibians from a local community in southern Colombia. She then placed them in boxes of photographic film for transport. When recovered by Colombian authorities, the frogs were dehydrated and stressed.

As reported by Colombian Secretary of the Environment Adriana Soto, the penalty for keeping these animals can be around 56,000 million pesos (or more than 13 million pesos). ;rsquo;euros). 

A heavy sentence justified by the endangered species status of the harlequin frog. Highly sought after, some can go as far as paying 1,000 euros to obtain one of them.

Furthermore, in South America, wildlife trafficking is a recurring practice.