This undated photo provided by the Belgian Federal Prosecutors Office on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, a spider is shown on a packaging plate. Prosecutors in Brussels say two people suspected of growing cannabis have been arrested this week in a Brussels apartment that contained a more unusual find: tarantulas, scorpions and bearded dragons. Prosecutors said Friday that local police made the unexpected discovery Wednesday after they were told a strong cannabis smell was coming from a building located in a northeast neighborhood of Belgium's capital. (Belgian Prosecutors Office via AP)
The Associated Press
BRUSSELS (AP) - Belgian police searching for drugs in a Brussels apartment have discovered 37 cannabis plants - as well as a collection of dozens of poisonous spiders, scorpions and desert-dwelling lizards.
Prosecutors said Friday that two men arrested in the apartment during the raid are being investigated for animal welfare violations, in addition to facing drug-related charges.
Police made the unexpected discovery Wednesday after they were told a strong cannabis smell was coming from a building in a northeast neighborhood of Belgium's capital.
Officers searched an apartment where a father and his adult son were arrested. In addition to the cannabis plants and 228 grams of marijuana they seized, police found 52 tarantulas, a python, three scorpions, four turtles, two lizards in the Pogona family - also known as bearded dragons - and 16 beetles.
This undated photo provided by the Belgian Federal Prosecutors Office on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, shows a reptile in a box. Prosecutors in Brussels say two people suspected of growing cannabis have been arrested this week in a Brussels apartment that contained a more unusual find: tarantulas, scorpions and bearded dragons. Prosecutors said Friday that local police made the unexpected discovery Wednesday after they were told a strong cannabis smell was coming from a building located in a northeast neighborhood of Belgium's capital. (Belgian Prosecutors Office via AP)
The Associated Press
This undated photo provided by the Belgian Federal Prosecutors Office on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, shows cannabis plants under a grow light. Prosecutors in Brussels say two people suspected of growing cannabis have been arrested this week in a Brussels apartment that contained a more unusual find: tarantulas, scorpions and bearded dragons. Prosecutors said Friday that local police made the unexpected discovery Wednesday after they were told a strong cannabis smell was coming from a building located in a northeast neighborhood of Belgium's capital. (Belgian Prosecutors Office via AP)
The Associated Press
This undated photo provided by the Belgian Federal Prosecutors Office on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, shows cannabis plants under a grow light. Prosecutors in Brussels say two people suspected of growing cannabis have been arrested this week in a Brussels apartment that contained a more unusual find: tarantulas, scorpions and bearded dragons. Prosecutors said Friday that local police made the unexpected discovery Wednesday after they were told a strong cannabis smell was coming from a building located in a northeast neighborhood of Belgium's capital. (Belgian Prosecutors Office via AP)
The Associated Press