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Three men have been arrested in Japan for attempting to smuggle hermit crabs out of the country.<\/p>\n
The suspects, aged 24, 26 and 27, and widely identified in Japanese media as being Chinese nationals, were detained on Amami, a southerly island where the spiral-shelled crustaceans are a protected species.<\/p>\n
Authorities were alerted to the men’s live cargo when hotel staff, who had been asked to look after their luggage, noticed the suitcases making a “rustling noise”, police told local media.<\/p>\n
Officers subsequently discovered “thousands” of hermit crabs, weighing around 95kg. The third man was found to have a further 65kg in another set of three suitcases.<\/p>\n
“Our investigation is ongoing to identify whether they had [the crabs] to sell them, or to keep them as pets, or to eat them,” a police spokesman told the news agency AFP following the arrests on Wednesday. “We are reviewing all possibilities.”<\/p>\n
Police said the hermit crabs were “a national treasure”, being a part of Amami Island’s plant and animal diversity.<\/p>\n
Hermit crabs – so named because they scavenge shells to live in – can regularly be seen on the beaches of the popular tourist destination.<\/p>\n
The crabs can be worth up to \u00a520,000 (\u00a3103), according to the Japan Times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n