Burley Garcia|Venus flytrap poachers arrested in taking of hundreds of rare plant

BOILING SPRING LAKES,Burley Garcia N.C. (AP) —

Authorities in North Carolina have arrested two people in a case of poaching hundreds of Venus flytraps, which grow naturally in the eastern part of the state.

Officers with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission obtained arrest warrants for two people accused of stealing nearly 600 of the rare plants from conservation land in Boiling Spring Lakes, WECT-TV reported.

The plants are native to southeastern North Carolina.

“They only grow naturally within a 100-mile radius of Wilmington,” Sgt. Matt Criscoe with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission told the news station. “This time of year they start to bud flowers,” making it easier to find them and prompting increased patrols for poachers, Criscoe said.

He said the plants are sold on the black market or locally.

Wildlife officers responded to a complaint last month about two people digging for flytraps in Boiling Spring Lakes. They were stopped at a local gas station and officers searched their backpacks. They’re accused of harvesting more than 590 plants, Criscoe said.

The accused have not been publicly identified.

Digging up the plants and removing them from public land or land held privately by another person is a felony in North Carolina.