Aviation security and environment officials Wednesday seized spiders, beetles and centipedes that two persons were trying to smuggle though the New Bacolod-Silay Airport in Silay City .

The attempt to bring them out of the province was in violation of Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer Joan Gerangaya said yesterday.

He said they were detected when the box in which they were placed, passed through an X-ray machine and the aviation security personnel informed the environment office.

Seized, and now in the custody of the CENRO in Bacolod were 32 beetles locally known as bagangans, three tarantula spiders, and two six-inch centipedes. They were packed in bottles with holes to allow them to breath and placed in between mineral water bottles containing ice, Gerangaya said.

Apparently the ice was to provide a cooler temperature if the box had entered the cargo area of the plane, he said.

The box was owned allegedly by Gilbert Chingcuangco and a Japanese, Hisashi Ochisi, but they abandoned the items when detected and were able to board their plane and leave for Manila , Gerangaya said.

Gerangaya warned that the transport of animals, birds, insects taken from the wild are all in violation of the Wildlife Act unless they have special permits that must come from the environment secretary.

The beetles that were about three to four inches long may have been intended for use for beetle fights or as aphrodisiacs, Gerangaya said.

He said the bugs in each bottle were labeled according to gender.*CPG

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