Jet setters and airport staff alike were horrified after smugglers were found with more than 3,000 tarantulas hidden in their socks.
The trio was allegedly attempting to board a commercial flight with suitcases that were filled to the brim with the spiders.
They will now face criminal proceedings, which will be led by a specialised environmental prosecutor’s office.
Following a tip-off, two Germans and a Polish national were searched as they attempted to board a flight in Callao, Peru.
To the shock and terror of nearby passengers, authorities began removing plastic boxes filled with tarantulas that had been kept in socks inside the trio’s luggage.
Authorities understand that around 15 to 22 socks were packed into three bags, each containing a tarantula of a different species. This included a protected Amazonian species which would have earned them a massive payday.
Shocking footage shows the tarantulas being removed from the bags, with over 3,000 spiders discovered in total. These ranged from eggs to young arachnids and fully grown adults.
Speaking on the discovery, Cora Surarez, a technician with Peru‘s National Forestry and Wildlife Service (SERFOR), explained: ‘These species are attractive because of the colours, the size and, more than anything, because they can be intended for collectors.’
The spider smuggling trade is a multi-million-euro industry with hundreds of tarantulas, even those that are venomous, being snuck into Europe to be sold as pets every year.
This latest discovery follows the interception of a man by police while he was sneaking 2,000 live tarantulas, worth an estimated £70,000, into the UK.
Radoslaw Szymanski, 35, of Clagan Park, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, pleaded not guilty after allegedly being caught with the critters at a ferry terminal in Birkenhead.
Speaking to the Sun, Tim Cockerill, a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, revealed: ‘In the UK, spider collecting is a multi-million-pound industry, and it’s a really popular hobby.’
He continued: ‘The worst thing for spiders is that because they are quite robust animals, they can survive most conditions. So their evolution that has engineered their success is sort of their downfall when it comes to being smuggled.
‘A tarantula can be perfectly happy in a fish tank, in a way, as long as they’re kept warm enough and fed.’