Poison dart frogs fly in from Amsterdam

Croak on this: Customs officials intercepted rare, highly poisonous frogs being smuggled into Israel from Holland.

Three men were found to be carrying boxes filled with dozens of the frogs at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Monday, after one of them — the smugglers, that is — caught the attention of a customs official, it was reported Thursday. The trio, who had flown in from Amsterdam, were arrested.

The poison dart frogs, some species of which produce one of nature’s most lethal venoms, are prized by collectors and sell for NIS 250-600 ($70-165) each.

These frogs are not native to Israel, and “there is a real danger to local Israeli amphibians as a result of the entry of exotic species to the country,” the Nature and Parks Authority said in a statement, explaining why it “doesn’t allow the importing of amphibians.”

The authority confiscated the creatures, is caring for them, and reported the offense to Interpol.

Also named simply “poison frogs,” the tiny, colorful creatures are known for the use of their natural poison by natives in Central and South America, who fashion darts using the toxins from some of the species when hunting and fighting.