SYDNEY: Wildlife officers have busted an illegal cockroach-breeding operation in rural Australia, seizing a skin-crawling haul worth more than $100,000 on the black market for exotic bugs. More than 100,000 contraband cockroaches were found in a raid on a commercial breeder in the town of Bathurst, west of Sydney, Australia&#39;s environment department said on Friday. They found Madagascar &quot;hissing&quot; cockroaches, a bulky insect named for its noisy defense mechanism, and dubia cockroaches, an invasive critter bred as a snack for pet lizards. Madagascar cockroaches Photos showed one of the seized Madagascar cockroaches was almost big enough to completely cover the palm of an adult hand. &quot;We take our job protecting Australia&#39;s unique biodiversity and breaches of national environment law very seriously,&quot; an environment department spokesman said. &quot;We&#39;re seeing illegal breeding and trading of exotic cockroaches and we&#39;re putting pet businesses and pet owners on notice.&quot; The department said the illicit insects had an estimated value of US$140,000 (Aus$200,000). Officials now have the unenviable task of euthanizing the creepy-crawlies, an insect so hardy it spawned an urban legend they could survive a nuclear blast.

Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW) shows some of the 100,000 contraband cockroaches found in a raid on a commercial breeder in the town of Bathurst, west of Sydney. (Photo: AFP)

Australasia

Officials now have the unenviable task of euthanizing the creepy-crawlies, an insect so hardy it spawned an urban legend they could survive a nuclear blast.

Articles tagged with "cockroach-breeding operation"

Australia seizes 100,000 cockroaches in bug-breeder bust

Australia seizes 100,000 cockroaches in bug-breeder bust