US museum curator held in Turkey over spider and scorpion samples is freed

American Museum of Natural History says Dr Lorenzo Prendini was working on research project and ‘has arrived safely home’

A curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York who was detained in Istanbul on Monday while allegedly attempting to smuggle spider and scorpion samples out of Turkey has been released.

In statement on Thursday, a spokesperson for the museum said Dr Lorenzo Prendini, curator of arachnida and myriapoda, had arrived back in New York.