Multiple invasive species slipped past biosecurity inspections aboard military vehicles shipped from Tinian. Ants, spiders and even snails hitched a ride on Department of Defense humvees on open flatracks from the Northern Marianas island and arrived at Guam's port on Monday morning.

Guam Department of Agriculture biosecurity chief Christopher Rosario says the DoD vehicles should have gone through multiple levels of inspections on Tinian before departure and in Guam upon arrival, but Guam Port safety officers were the ones to find the pests Monday night. 

"It had basically gone through many loopholes in terms of the inspection process. There are many agencies involved with this. I just wanted to leave that message out there that we all  got to be cognizant of looking out for invasive species, whether it’s in Guam and outside of Guam," he explained.

The Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency, Agriculture’s Biosecurity Division and DoD contractor Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands in Tinian were contacted to do another thorough inspection and spot treatment. 

Rosario says the ants have been confirmed to be yellow crazy ants, but the spiders and snails have yet to be identified.  "I just want to say that it just goes to show that invasive species can really hide in nooks and crannies in vehicles, in containers, in flat racks, whether its in an open environment or closed environment. We just need to be a little more vigilant in detecting these invasive species," Rosario added.

In the meantime, local media reports show Tinian leaders has been raising concerns over invasive species amid increased military activities on the island. 

About a week ago, their Customs and Biosecurity intercepted two venomous black widow spiders and eggs aboard the vessel APL Islander on Tinian. 

But Rosario says while still unidentified, these spiders are not black widows. He also stated that while the snail remains unidentified, it is likely native to the Marianas. 

Following newstime, Rosario clarified the cargo was Seabee’s heavy equipment returning to Guam after several years of use on Tinian conducting community public works projects.

"Port of Guam safety workers detected ants and spiders prior to devanning vehicles from two flatracks Monday night. The Guam Biosecurity Division was notified of the situation and the director contacted the Navy’s biosecurity program to respond to the situation. The Navy deployed two biosecurity personnel to assess all the pieces of heavy equipment offloaded at the port. After the assessment, pesticide was applied to the heavy equipment to eliminate yellow crazy ants and spiders. Additionally, Mexican amber snails were also encountered and removed from the heavy equipment. Yellow crazy ants are already common on Guam," he explained of the last 48 hours.

Rpsario added the Guam Biosecurity Division and Navy biosecurity personnel reassessed the heavy equipment on Tuesday and determined two flat racks and the vehicles on them would need to be fumigated in order to be allowed to leave the port.