Welp, Apparently I Have To Worry About TARANTULAS at the Airport Now

Just when you thought you’d read about all the potential problems you could face at the airport, something like this comes along and unlocks a whole new fear you didn’t know you even had.

German customs officials found around 1,500 tarantulas stuffed in boxes, attempting to be smuggled through the airport, The Washington Post reports.

Customs officials at the Cologne Bonn Airport recently foiled an attempt to smuggle roughly 1,500 tarantulas hidden in boxes that should have been filled with 15 pounds of chocolate cake.

The tarantulas were in a package addressed to be shipped from Vietnam to North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. The spiders were crammed into small plastic containers that were placed into bright-red cake boxes.

Officials suspected something was amiss because of a “noticeable smell” emanating from one of the packages when it was opened.

Maja Ley, spokesperson for the Cologne Main Customs Office, said that the majority of the spiders were alive when they were discovered, with the survivors being placed in professional care.

“The most shocking thing is the fact that people are seeking profit at the expense of animal welfare,” Ley said in an email. “It’s very unfortunate that so many animals didn’t survive.” She did not have a tally of how many of the smuggled tarantulas survived.

The person responsible for the package is now a suspect in an investigation. Since some of the tarantulas died, Germany’s animal welfare regulations were violated during the smuggling. Criminal proceedings are also underway against the parcel’s recipient in Sauerland.

Animals of any kind must be declared to customs, and import duties have to be paid.

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We don’t know about you, but we certainly hope we’re never at the airport when someone is attempting to smuggle thousands of tarantulas through customs! In the meantime, stay tuned to AllEars for the latest travel news and more.

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