Wildlife officers in Australia have confiscated more than 100,000 illegal cockroaches in a raid on a commercial breeder in the state of New South Wales.
Officials said the haul — worth an estimated $142,000 (€122,000) on the black market — included Madagascar hissing cockroaches and dubia cockroaches. It is illegal to import, keep, breed, or sell both species under Australian law.
The raid took place in May in the rural town of Bathurst, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Sydney. It was the country's largest-ever seizure of illicit exotic bugs, officials said.
The Madagascar hissing species, one of the world's largest cockroaches, can grow 5 to 7.5 centimeters (2 to 3 inches) in length — significantly bigger than the common Australian cockroach, which can reach 3.6 cm.
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