Overview

• Customs officers at Cologne/Bonn airport uncovered 1,500 young tarantulas concealed in plastic containers within a package declared as cookies from Vietnam.
• Many of the spiders died during the animal-welfare-violating transport, prompting authorities to place the survivors in expert care.
• The seven-kilogram parcel was addressed to an unnamed recipient in Germany’s Sauerland region and intercepted three weeks before the announcement.
• Kölner Hauptzollamt spokesperson Jens Ahland said the discovery stunned even experienced officers and underscored traffickers’ sophisticated concealment tactics.
• A criminal proceeding has been opened against the Sauerland recipient under non-EU import rules as investigators probe connections to a wider smuggling network.