German customs officials were in for an unsettling surprise when they discovered approximately 1,500 young tarantulas hidden inside boxes meant for spongecake.

The shipment had reached Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany around three weeks prior from Vietnam, weighing over 15 pounds. A noticeable odor helped alert officials to the peculiar contents, according to information provided by the Cologne customs office.

“While my colleagues at the airport are accustomed to uncovering surprising items in prohibited packages from around the globe, discovering about 1,500 small plastic containers filled with young tarantulas left even our most seasoned team members at a loss for words,” Jens Ahland, the spokesperson for the Cologne customs office, reported. 

“Animals of any kind must be declared to customs and import duties paid for parcels from a non-EU member state,” the release noted.

German customs officers recently made a skin-crawling discovery when they found around 1,500 young tarantulas concealed in a shipment of spongecake. (Cologne customs)

Last year, a passenger was busted at Miami International Airport for trying to get onto 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.”

Jens Ahland did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.