Cockroach kingpin caught with 100,000 illegal insects in record bug bust

Madagascar hissing cockroaches were seized from a commercial breeder at Bathurst, Australia (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water via AP)

More than 100,000 live cockroaches which are illegal to keep in Australia have been confiscated from a single breeder in the country’s largest-ever seizure of exotic invertebrates, officials said.

The haul of Madagascar hissing cockroaches and dubia cockroaches, worth 200,000 Australian dollars (£106,000), was seized in May from a commercial breeder in the city of Bathurst in New South Wales state, according to Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water.