US woman arrested for smuggling endangered spider monkey in beer box

A woman from the US state of Texas was arrested on Sunday, Nov 20 for allegedly smuggling an endangered spider monkey in a wooden box that she claimed was meant to store beer. The bizarre illegal incident came to light after the 20-year-old accused woman attempted to suspiciously flee an immigration checkpoint, with the endangered monkey that she planned to later resell, as per a release from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The woman had entered the US from Mexico through the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas on March 21.  The US Immigration and Customs officers noticed her suspicious wooden box with holes inside her car. She was then halted for query by law enforcement and she falsely claimed that the box contained beer she had shopped for in Mexico.

"When officers opened the box, they discovered a live spider monkey and referred Valdez to secondary inspection. Valdez, however, refused to comply with their instructions and instead sped off, running a traffic light and nearly colliding with officers and other vehicles," said the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Lady acknowledged bringing endangered spider monkey into US via Mexico

The accused surrendered to the cops on March 28, according to the press statement, and was tried in court earlier this month on Nov 2. The lady acknowledged bringing the monkey into the country, the release stated. She conducted herself this way and managed to evade police on purpose. But later, she turned herself to the authorities over the fear of being caught. The endangered spider monkey was sent to an animal refuge in Central Florida by the cops. 

Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge, of HSI San Antonio, stressed in the release that bringing endangered species into the country for profit "is a sad crime against nature’s valuable resources."  Humane Society International (HSI) "uses every opportunity to join our government, private sector, and international partners to share our knowledge, expertise, and investigative tactics geared to conserve and preserve vulnerable and endangered species," said acting special agent in charge of HSI. Earlier, similarly, a Houston man was indicted on charges of trying to use a heavy-duty drone to drop a bag of forbidden items to inmates at a federal prison in Texas. Federal officials unsealed an indictment charging Davien Philip Turner with two counts of unlawfully flying an aircraft, an Associated Press report confirmed. Each count was punishable by up to three years in prison for the US man.