German customs officials show images of tarantulas hidden in spongecake boxes after smuggling bust
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.'
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 didn't 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.
Reached by phone, Ahland said that the estimated value of the shipment was being assessed. Criminal proceedings are underway 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
10 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
At least 3 killed and others injured in train derailment in southern Germany
At least three people were killed and others seriously injured Sunday when a regional passenger train derailed in southern Germany, authorities said. Federal and local police said the cause of the crash near Riedlingen remains under investigation. It was not immediately clear how many people had been injured. Roughly 100 people were onboard the train at the time of the crash THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. A regional passenger train derailed Sunday in southern Germany, injuring at least three people, federal police told German news agency dpa. Roughly 100 people were aboard the train when at least two carriages derailed in a forested area around 6:10 p.m. local time (1600 GMT), dpa reported. Photos from the scene showed parts of the train on its side as rescuers climbed atop the carriages. The crash happened near the town of Riedlingen, dpa reported, roughly 158 kilometers (98 miles) west of Munich. Details about what caused the derailment were not immediately available. Federal police, who oversee the railroads and Deutsche Bahn, Germany's main national railway operator, did not return The Associated Press' requests for comment Sunday evening.
Arab News
17 hours ago
- Arab News
Police hurt and dozens arrested at Berlin pro-Palestinian demonstration
FRANKFURT: Berlin police on Sunday said they arrested 57 people during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the fringes of the city's yearly Pride march a day earlier, adding that 17 police officers sustained to police, about 10,000 demonstrators participated in the rally on Saturday in support of Palestinians, but authorities moved in to disperse the crowd as organizers struggled to restore arrests were related to public order disturbances, including resisting police and throwing bottles or physical altercation, but also the use of anti-Semitic slogans as well as 'symbols of anti-constitutional and terrorist organizations,' police said on social 'Internationalist Queer Pride for Liberation' movement, which on its website says there is 'no queer liberation without anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, and anti-Zionist struggle,' called the pro-Palestinian demonstration took place as Berlin's annual Pride parade was being held in another city district, where 64 arrests were also made, for insults, assault and also the alleged use of symbols deemed linked to 'terrorist organizations.'Another demonstration, this one by far-right militants opposed to the Pride march, also took place, with police telling AFP that 20 people there were protests have proliferated in Germany and elsewhere in demonstrations reflect heightened concerns as the Israel-Hamas conflict grinds on, with Israel pursuing a devastating military operation in Gaza following Hamas's October 7, 2023 Hamas attack in Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli campaign has killed 59,733 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run seeking to atone for the Holocaust, has long been one of Israel's most steadfast supporters. But as the civilian toll and plight in Gaza has risen, it has recently sharpened its criticism of its recently said it regards the recognition of a Palestinian state as 'one of the final steps on the path to achieving a two-state solution.'
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Al Arabiya
Vandals set fire to a mouse statue that's a tv star and mascot for a german broadcaster
Vandals set fire to a mouse statue that's a TV star and mascot for children's programming at German broadcaster WDR, the television station said Saturday. The cartoon mouse, known only as Die Maus, is the eponymous star of Die Sendung mit der Maus (The Show with the Mouse) since it first aired in West Germany in 1971. Each short episode features other languages and educational segments. The statue – featuring the character's famous orange body with brown ears, arms, and legs – greets families and children outside a media building in Cologne, Germany. A receptionist for WDR saw several young people standing around the statue in Cologne on a camera feed overnight Friday into Saturday. She then noticed flames and called the fire department, WDR said. The fire blackened parts of the mouse's face and arm, images show. The station said a police complaint had been filed against an unidentified person. Matthias Körnich, head of children's programming for WDR, said it's not just a figurine that was damaged. 'A piece of childhood, a symbol of joy and togetherness, has been attacked,' he said. 'The mouse belongs to Cologne.'
