What was initially believed to be a shipment of cakes actually turned out to be over a thousand spiders. Investigators cracked open the packages to discover almost 1,500 young tarantulas being illegally transported.
When customs noticed that the smell emanating from the chocolate sponge cake boxes wasn’t that of cake, they became suspicious. Popping one of them open, they were surprised to find they were filled with plastic boxes.
It was in this cruel manner that the thousands of spiders had been transported. The illegal shipment had been sent from Vietnam, where the spiders are native, to Cologne Bonn airport in Germany. This was an unregistered and illegal sale of an exotic animal.
Speaking to People, a customs officer at Cologne Bonn explained how unusual the cake box spider find was. “My colleagues at the airport are regularly surprised by the contents of prohibited packages from all over the world, but the fact that they found around 1,500 small plastic containers containing young tarantulas in this package left even the most experienced among them speechless.”
Sad Situation For Ill-Packaged Spiders
Of course, when transporting something as delicate as a tarantula, a lot of care needs to be taken over its well-being. Non-perishable parcels are often thrown around. Also, the spiders need temperature and food maintenance that cake simply doesn’t.
Because of this, many of the spiders died in transit, having been thrown around by the transport situation. Not many of them survived the trip.
As a result of the spider seizure, the recipient of the parcel is being charged. Importing animals such as tarantulas requires certain customs to be paid, and a declaration of goods. People can’t just be sending thousands of exotic animals from one country to another.
Many of these could be invasive or dangerous to an economy were they to get loose. What this man had planned for over a thousand spiders is beyond me. Even if he planned to sell them, that is an enormous stock.
Now, the defendant is facing charges of failing to pay the required import fees and failing to make the right customs declarations.