About 1500 tarantulas have been discovered hidden in chocolate sponge cake boxes in a seizure at an airport in western Germany.

Customs officials found the shipment at Cologne Bonn airport in a package that had arrived from Vietnam.

They were tipped off by a “noticeable smell” that didn’t resemble the expected aroma of the seven kilograms 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 1500 small plastic containers containing young tarantulas in this package left even the most experienced among them speechless,” Ahland said on Monday (local time).

He hailed an “extraordinary seizure”, but one that “saddens us to see what some people do to animals purely for profit”.

Many of the spiders 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.

Ahland said the estimated value of the shipment was being assessed.

Criminal proceedings were underway against the intended recipient in the Sauerland region for alleged violations of failure to pay proper import duties and make proper customs declarations, the office said.

The tarantulas were discovered about three weeks ago, but the customs office made the images public only on Monday.

-with AP