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Inside bizarre 500-a-pop 'Pokemon' spider smuggling craze sweeping UK

A bizarre 500-a-pop spider smuggling craze is sweeping the UK as obsessed 'Pokemon-style' collectors fuel a 17billion illegal global wildlife trade - with police interception

[Customs agents are increasingly finding themselves face-to-face with illegally smuggled spiders (stock image)]

Customs agents are increasingly finding themselves face-to-face with illegally smuggled spiders (stock image)(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

Thousands of illegally smuggled spiders have been seized by customs agents in a shocking crackdown, usually targetting drugs of tobacco. Driven by obsessed collectors, the eight-legged creepy crawlies fetch up to 500 a pop on the black market.

According to Border Force, illegal animal smuggling has skyrocketed by 73 per cent since 2024, with arachnid trafficking on the rise since 2023. In May, Radoslaw Szymanski, 35, of Northern Ireland, pleaded not guilty after police allegedly intercepted him with 2,000 live spiders at a ferry terminal in Birkenhead.

Officers claim he lacked the proper paperwork to import them for commercial sale. Szymanski, who is understood to run "Creatures From The North" - one of Britain's biggest spider-selling sites - is set for trial next year for allegedly trying to import tarantulas protected under the International Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species.

[The eight-legged creepy crawlies fetch up to 500 a pop on the black market (stock image)]

The eight-legged creepy crawlies fetch up to 500 a pop on the black market (stock image)(Image: Getty Images)

Violations can result in up to seven years in prison. Online forums are packed with enthusiasts trading tips. On one tarantula board, a former customer wrote: "I don't condone the illegal practices going on in this hobby (smuggling, brown boxing etc) but there will be no moral outrage from myself about it either.

"Others will feel differently I'm sure and that is cool. Regardless, the smugglers will keep on smuggling, the buyers will keep on buying and every few years a dealer will get hit hard by the law.

"As long as there is a hobby, this wheel will keep turning." Nevertheless, experts warn this mentality is devastating ecosystems.

[According to Border Force, illegal animal smuggling has skyrocketed by 73 per cent since 2024 (stock image)]

According to Border Force, illegal animal smuggling has skyrocketed by 73 per cent since 2024 (stock image)(Image: Mary Turner/Getty Images)

Spider expert Alice Hughes told the BBC: "[These] forums show that people collect spiders a bit like people collect Pokemon they want to 'catch 'em all.'" Dr Tim Cockerill, a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, told The Sun that spider fans fall prey to "stamp collector syndrome".

He said: "In the UK, spider collecting is a multi-million pound industry and it's a really popular hobby. The worst thing for spiders is that because they are quite robust animals they can survive most conditions.

"So their evolution that has engineered their success is sort of their downfall when it comes to being smuggled. A tarantula can be perfectly happy in a fish tank in a way, as long as they're kept warm enough and fed."

[Mexican red knee tarantula (Stock photo)]

Mexican red knee tarantula (Stock photo)

He added: "The rarer a specimen becomes, the more people want it and then it becomes really sought after. Then for collectors, the rarer a specimen becomes, the more people want it and it can become really sought after.

"It's like stamps." However, biologists argue that ripping the animals from the wild creates a dangerous ecological domino effect.

Dr Sara Goodacre, from the University of Nottingham, said: "People need to understand you can't just take something from the wild because it's unique, looks beautiful and you can make money from it. You could cause damage to the rest of the ecosystem by removing that creature when you didn't need to and that can have knock on effects.

[Mid section of college student wearing protective gloves handling chilean rose tarantula in lab - (Stock photo)]

Mid section of college student wearing protective gloves handling chilean rose tarantula in lab - (Stock photo)

"The natural world relies on every bit in the ecosystem, those spiders were doing an important job and now they can't." Dr Goodacre blasted the ethics of modern collectors.

She said: "We can't just go round raiding other parts of the globe like the Victorians did. Can we be better than that please?

"Referring to spiders like Pokemon is such a great way to put it. People want the rarest Pokemon.

[Close up of house spider trapped inside drinking glass held by an adult wearing protective gardening gloves in a back yard - (Stock photo)]

Close up of house spider trapped inside drinking glass held by an adult wearing protective gardening gloves in a back yard - (Stock photo)

"I want to take their heads and knock them together and ask what they're teaching the next generation about just taking things. Often these people are taking animals knowing most won't reach the other end of the journey. It shouldn't be acceptable to do that.

"These are creatures confined to a small place, being squashed, having to deal with humidity and temperature changes. All these things will stress the spiders out, just so someone can make a quick buck at the other end."

Globally, wildlife crime is a massive 17 billion industry, trailing only firearms, drugs and human trafficking. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Mary Creagh said: "The illegal wildlife trade is vile and destroys the natural world.

"By tackling wildlife crime we're sending a clear message to the criminal gangs that this government will strain every sinew to bring those involved to justice."

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