German customs authorities recently discovered about 1,500 young tarantulas hidden in a shipment of spongecake boxes.
The package, which arrived at Germany’s Cologne Bonn Airport three weeks ago from Vietnam, weighed over 15 pounds and smelled unusual. This alerted officials, according to a news release from the Cologne customs office.
“My colleagues at the airport often find unexpected items in prohibited packages from around the world, but the discovery of about 1,500 small plastic containers with young tarantulas in this package left even the experienced officers speechless,” said Jens Ahland, a spokesperson for the Cologne customs office.
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“An extraordinary seizure for German Customs, even though we are saddened by what some people do to animals purely for profit.”
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Many of the tarantulas did not survive the trip, and the surviving spiders were placed in professional care. Criminal proceedings are underway against the package’s recipient in the Sauerland region of the country, according to the news release.
German customs officers discovered around 1,500 young tarantulas in a shipment of spongecake. (Cologne customs)
Last year, a passenger was busted at Miami International Airport for trying to board an airplane with a bag of snakes in the passenger’s pants. The TSA shared images of the reptiles on X at the time, writing that officers in Florida “detected this bag of snakes hidden in a passenger’s pants at a checkpoint.”
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Jens Ahland did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
