Australian authorities have smashed a ring of illegal insect dealers led by one secretive commercial breeder specializing in the Madagascar hissing cockroach as part of the country’s largest-ever seizure of exotic invertebrates.
The haul of the infamous Madagascar live hissing cockroaches alongside dubia cockroaches, worth 200,000 Australian dollars ($142,000), came last month in the rural Central West NSW town of Bathurst.
Both species cannot be legally imported into Australia or kept, bred or sold.
Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW) had been contacted by a local specialized snake hunter in the region who shone a light on the shadowy illegal insect dealing ring.
Bathurst town’s own snake catcher thus ensured the mass invertebrate seizure was made and the ring of dealers smashed..
This supplied image shows, Madagascar hissing cockroaches and dubia cockroaches, seized from a shadowy commercial breeder at Bathurst, Australia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water via AP)
AP reports the Madagascar hissing species is one of the world’s biggest cockroaches, measuring 2 to 3 inches in length. Photos released by the department showed a shiny, brown invertebrate larger than a person’s finger poised to wreak havoc wherever it was released.
The snake catcher Stefanie Lesser told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) the larger exotic species were likely being sold as as a cost-effective reptile food because their large size meant fewer insects were needed.
Officials urged pet owners to seek out crickets or wood roaches to feed their lizards instead as such animals are a popular addition to many Australian households.
Charges weren’t laid against the Bathurst breeder but a stern lecture was delivered to dissuade him from ever again venturing into the illicit cockroach trade.
A Madagascar hissing cockroach’s size is matched only by the damage it can do rampaging through any natural environment. (Serhat Cetinkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“If you are found to possess, breed or trade exotic cockroaches such as dubia cockroaches and Madagascar hissing cockroaches, they will be seized and you could face penalties under federal law,” DCCEEW cautioned.
The cockroaches seized would be humanely euthanized, the department promised.