He attempted to smuggle 130 poisonous frogs hidden in his luggage onto a flight to Panama

Bogota police arrested a Brazilian citizen El Dorado Airport to carry a suitcase with 130 plastic jars which contained species endangered poisonous frogthe Oofaga Histrionica.

According to the Colombian Migration Service, they were camouflaged in sample containers They didn’t have enough ventilation. Now, the frustrated passenger is accused of”wildlife trafficking“.

The 37-year-old woman was traveling to Sao Paulo, Brazil, about to make a stopover In Panama, where he ascertains that he intended to sell them.

“The 130 frogs of the species known as ‘Harlequin poisonous frog“They were seized at the airport while the woman was trying to board,” said the operational commander of the institute in the Colombian capital, Juan Carlos Arévalo.

Authorities confirmed that the Brazilian suspect said the frogs were “a gift received from the ethnic communities of Nariño.” But, after ascertaining the number of species it was carrying and the symptoms of suffocation it presented, they began the judicialization process.

Oophaga Histrionica, a colorful, deadly and endangered species of frog

The species Oophaga Histrionica is native to the humid forests of the Pacific and has an exotic beauty, but it is one of the deadliest in the world. Due to its scarcity, it is in high demand on international markets, the vast majority of which are illegal: collectors pay up to little more $1,000 for each living specimen.

The half-suffocated frogs were immediately transported to a veterinary center Due to the poor conditions in which they were found, “they were hours away from death,” said the commander in charge of the operation.

It is expected that these specimens will be able to return again in the next few days to its natural habitatonce they have recovered from the health complications suffered after being robbed.

“The foreign citizen did not have the unique national mobilization pass nor the permit for the use of wildlife”, therefore “she was left at the disposal of the Attorney General”, concluded Arévalo.