U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists seized three live Chief Goliath beetles on Aug. 19 in Philadelphia that were being shipped in air cargo from North Carolina to Germany.
CBP officers inspected an outbound parcel on Aug. 18 manifested as “4x play toy.” Instead, officers discovered that the parcel contained three large live beetles, a container with beetle parts, and two shadow boxes used to display insect specimens.
CBP officers submitted the live beetles and photos of the beetle parts to entomologists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The entomologists identified the three live beetles as female Chief Goliath beetles (Goliathus cacicus (Olivier, 1789)), and the dead beetles as three stag beetles (Dorcus sp, Family: Lucanidae).
Chief Goliath beetles are native to rainforests in Africa. Researchers consider Chief Goliath beetles to be increasingly rare in the wild due to deforestation and agriculture expansion in the tropical regions of Africa, and overharvesting for the international pet trade.
Exotic insects are highly popular among collectors and insect enthusiasts and are illegally sold through underground markets
CBP officers submitted the findings to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wildlife inspectors who requested that CBP seize the shipment as smuggled wildlife. Live beetles are considered wildlife and require USFWS permits to import or export.
Source : cbp.gov