German customs officials find tarantulas hidden in spongecake boxes
Customs officials found the shipment at Cologne Bonn airport in a package that had arrived from Vietnam, tipped off by a 'noticeable smell' that did not resemble the expected aroma of the confectionery treats, Cologne customs office spokesman Jens Ahland said.
'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,' Mr Ahland said in a statement.
Plastic containers holding young tarantulas (Haupzollamt Koeln via AP)
Mr Ahland hailed an 'extraordinary seizure,' but one that 'saddens us to see what some people do to animals purely for profit'.
Many of the eight-legged creatures did not survive the trip, in a suspected violation of German animal-welfare rules, while survivors were given to the care of an expert handler, the office said.
Mr Ahland said that the estimated value of the shipment was being assessed.
Criminal proceedings are under way against the intended recipient in the Sauerland region, east of the airport, in part for alleged violations of failure to pay the proper import duties and make the proper customs declarations, the office said.
The tarantulas were discovered about three weeks ago, but the customs office only made the images public on Monday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Extra.ie
an hour ago
- Extra.ie
About 1,500 tarantulas found hidden in cookie shipment at airport
Over a thousand giant spiders have been found in a shipment of cookies at an airport in Germany. German customs officers discovered over 1,500 tarantula spiders when they opened a shipment of 'cookies' that had arrived on a flight into Cologne-Bonn airport from Vietnam. Customs officers noticed a strange smell when their opened the suspicious package, and discovered the unfortunate arachnids packed into plastic tubes with many of the creatures having died in transit. Tarantula spider – Stock image The discovery is said to have left even the most experienced customs officers 'speechless'. Spokesman Jens Ahland said 'its deeply troubling what some people do to animals purely for profit' adding that the venomous spiders who survived the long journey from Vietnam, have now been placed with professionals who can look after them. A criminal investigation has been launched into the shipment as well as the intended recipient, who will also have to answer questions for failing to pay duties and make the proper declarations to customs.
Irish Independent
12 hours ago
- Irish Independent
London Southend Airport plane crash: ‘Beloved' flight nurse killed in explosion was on first day of new job
LATEST | A Chilean-born nurse has been named as among the four people who were killed in a plane crash at London Southend Airport. Maria Fernanda Rojaz Ortiz (31), a German citizen born in Chile, was reportedly on her first day as a flight nurse on board the small aircraft when it came down after take-off on Sunday afternoon.
Sunday World
17 hours ago
- Sunday World
British aristocrat and rapist partner found guilty of killing their newborn baby
The couple travelled across England and went off grid sleeping in a tent on the South Downs where baby Victoria died. The moment Mark Gordon was arrested in the street in Brighton (Met Police/PA) Items found with the body of baby Victoria inside a Lidl bag, including the pink sheet she was wrapped in and her teddy bear print babygrow (Met Police/PA) CCTV footage of Constance Marten, Mark Gordon and baby Victoria in a German doner kebab shop in East Ham, London, on January 7 2023 (Met Police/PA) Aristocrat Constance Marten and her convicted rapist partner have been found guilty of killing their newborn baby. Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, went on the run with daughter Victoria in early 2023 after their four other children were taken into care. Police had launched a nationwide hunt after their car burst into flames on the motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester. The couple travelled across England and went off grid sleeping in a tent on the South Downs where baby Victoria died. After seven weeks on the run, the defendants were arrested in Brighton, East Sussex. Following a desperate search, police found their baby dead amid rubbish inside a Lidl bag in a disused shed nearby. Victoria's remains were too badly decomposed to establish the cause of death. The prosecution said she died from hypothermia in the cold and damp conditions inside the flimsy tent or was smothered. CCTV footage of Constance Marten, Mark Gordon and baby Victoria in a German doner kebab shop in East Ham, London, on January 7 2023 (Met Police/PA) News in 90 Seconds - Monday July 14th The defendants claimed their daughter's death was a tragic accident after Marten fell asleep on her. A jury in their retrial found Marten and Gordon unanimously guilty of manslaughter on Monday. In their first trial last year, the defendants were convicted of perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child and child cruelty. Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford of Scotland Yard, said: "Today, the justice we have long fought for has been finally been served for baby Victoria. "The selfish actions of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten resulted in the death of a newborn baby who should have had the rest of her life ahead of her." The senior officer said Victoria's death was "completely avoidable" as the defendant had plenty of opportunities to "do the right thing" and ask for help. In light of the conviction, the family court decision to take Marten's four other children into care was "shown to be right", he said. Jurors in the defendant's first trial in 2024 were not told about Gordon's violent past which was only partly revealed in their second trial. In 1989, Gordon, then aged 14, held a woman against her will in Florida for more than four hours and raped her while armed with a "knife and hedge clippers". Within a month, he entered another property and carried out another offence involving aggravated battery. Gordon, who moved with his mother from Birmingham to the US at the age of 12, was sentenced to 40 years in jail and was released after 22 years. Jurors in the retrial appeared visibly shaken by the revelations even though Marten had accidentally blurted out Gordon's rape conviction while giving evidence. In 2017, Gordon was convicted of assaulting two female police officers at a a maternity unit in Wales where Marten gave birth to their first child under a fake identity. Jurors were not told that Gordon was also suspected of a incident of domestic violence in 2019 which left Marten with a shattered spleen. Gordon had refused to allow paramedics into their London flat to treat her even though she was 14 weeks pregnant, it emerged during legal argument. She spent eight days in hospital then put her life and that of her unborn child at risk by attempting to discharge herself, with Gordon's support, it was alleged. It was following that incident that the family court decided the couple's other children should be taken into care. When Marten became pregnant for a fifth time, she kept it secret, giving birth in a hired holiday cottage on Christmas Eve 2022. The defendants' attempts to keep baby Victoria under wraps prompted the major police alert after a placenta was found inside their abandoned car near Bolton on January 5 2023. The defendants fled the scene with Victoria, leaving behind the family cat named Sasha in a box, around £2,000 in cash, 34 "burner" phones and other belongings. They spent hundreds of pounds on taxis to take them from the North West, to Harwich in Essex, East Ham in London and on to Newhaven. Victoria was only briefly glimpsed on CCTV footage in London wearing the same teddybear motif babygrow later recovered with her body inside the Lidl bag. The prosecution asserted that Victoria was carried under Marten's jacket or in a Lidl bag without adequate clothing, warmth or shelter. After she died, the defendants were caught on CCTV scavenging in bins for food even though Marten had received thousands of pounds from a trust fund and had £19,000 in the bank. The defendants were arrested after buying supplies in Brighton on February 27 2023, and refused to say where the baby was, with Gordon declaring: "What's the big deal?" More than a thousand Metropolitan Police officers searched for Victoria for two days before she was discovered in an allotment shed wrapped in a pink sheet and hidden beneath dirt and rubbish in the Lidl bag. In a police interview, Marten said: "I had her in my jacket and I hadn't slept properly in quite a few days and erm, I fell asleep holding her sitting up and she, when I woke up, she wasn't alive." Jurors were told Marten had been warned by social workers about the risk of falling asleep with a baby lying on her and that a tent was unsuitable. Both defendants gave evidence in their retrial but each cut short their testimony, with Marten describing the prosecution as "heartless" and "diabolical".
