Turkish authorities at Istanbul airport arrested an expert from the American Museum of Natural History on charges of trying to transport a large group of spiders and scorpions out of the country.
The detainee was reportedly identified as Lorenzo Brindini, a museum spider expert based in New York, who was trying to smuggle about 1,500 specimens of these creatures.
The Turkish agency “Anadolu” indicated that the arrest of Brendini was made after the discovery of the aforementioned samples, which are considered protected species in Turkey.
Brendini has extensive experience in scientific research related to spiders and scorpions, with scientific trips covering more than 30 countries, according to the museum’s website.
It is noteworthy that the CITES Convention on the Protection of Endangered International Environmental Species sets rules that set strict rules for the transport of environmental samples such as animals and insects and is considered part of international conventions to combat the smuggling of environmental life.
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