Couple arrested in southern Spain after trying to take backpack containing snakes, lizards and spiders on ferry

A couple was arrested by the Guardia Civil in Cadiz on 22 July, after leaving a backpack containing 11 plastic boxes with dozens of protected species on a ferry bound for the Canary Islands. The detainees abandoned the bag in the boarding area to avoid detection by the police. Following the discovery of the bag, the animals were transferred to the Bioparc zoo and animal conservation park in Fuengirola.

The incident happened at Cadiz port on 5 July. Police and tax authorities discovered the backpack abandoned in the boarding area, a few metres before the luggage scanners. They immediately activated a safety and assessment protocol to determine the level of risk, as the contents of the bag were not known at that moment.

Once they determined that the bag was safe to open, they found 11 plastic boxes of different sizes inside. They contained two large spiders, two monitor lizards, a gecko, two sugar gliders, three snakes, a scorpion, a frog, several mice, numerous worms and millipedes.

After establishing that these specimens were abandoned with the aim of avoiding security controls, the authorities launched an investigation to locate the perpetrators. In the meantime, they requested support from the Guardia Civil's nature and protection branch for the identification and transfer of the species. They also had to quickly make holes in the plastic boxes to allow air to ventilate inside and prevent the death of the animals, which were kept in bad conditions, with the containers stacked one over the other. Four of the nine species discovered are protected, while most of the rest are invasive exotic species, potentially dangerous for the Canary Islands, where the ferry was heading.

The police then carried out a series of enquiries that allowed them to fully identify the couple responsible for the illegal act. Their intention had been to take the backpack to the Canary Islands. However, they abandoned that idea when they saw the security control on the ferry and decided to continue without the animals.

The pair were arrested on 22 July for a crime against flora and fauna, animal-trafficking and mistreatment.