At the Cayenne Airport, security officers detained a Polish citizen trying to smuggle nearly a hundred tarantula spiders in their luggage, AFP reported. 

“The prefecture said the man attempted to carry a bag containing 38 adult and some 50 young as well as dozens of egg-filled cocoons through the airport at Cayenne, capital of the French overseas department bordering Brazil and Surinam,” the source noted.

The tarantulas have been placed in a bottle. The man has reportedly described himself as “a passionate about insects”.

The transport of live tarantulas and scorpions is not prohibited by French law but is regulated because some species, including tarantulas, have a special protected status.