Woman Charged After Hundreds of Poisonous Frogs Found in Her Luggage
A woman has been charged with wildlife trafficking after she was busted allegedly trying to smuggle over 100 poisonous, endangered frogs out of Colombia into Brazil. The New York Post reported the story.
The unidentified woman was apprehended on Monday at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, where she was planning to head to São Paulo by way of Panama. Officials searched her luggage for unknown reasons and found 130 Harlequin frogs, also known as poison dart frogs, hidden in various film canisters.
The frogs are distinguished by their brightly colored bodies speckled with spots and are most commonly found in Colombia, as well as other countries in Central and South America. Their skin glands produce extremely poisonous secretions designed to kill their predators, like birds and other small animals.
According to the San Diego Zoo, poison dart frogs were named such because “the Choco people of western Colombia use the poison of one species, the golden poison frog, to coat the tips of the blow darts they use for hunting…A single golden poison frog, which is no larger than a bottle cap, can supply enough poison for 30 to 50 darts, and the dart's poison remains active for up to a year.”
Bogota Police Commander Juan Carlos Arevalo told local media that, “This endangered species is sought after in the international market.” Authorities report the frogs are particularly popular amongst exotic animal collectors and can fetch up to $1,000 apiece on the black market, meaning the suspect was carrying about $130,000 worth of frogs.
The woman apparently claimed that the frogs were given to her as a gift by a “community” in Southern Colombia. She's been charged with wildlife trafficking and is facing fines of up to $14,300 for possessing the frogs.
