Shield your eyes, arachnophobes. Airport workers in Callao, Peru, made a bizarre, hair-raising discovery when searching a passenger's luggage on Tuesday.
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Officials found more than 3,000 tarantulas on Nov. 3 in three luggage briefcases at Jorge Chávez International Airport.
A trio of travelers allegedly packed their luggage to the brim with socks stuffed with thousands of spiders.
The large cluster of insects was at various stages of development, including dozens of spider eggs.
The luggage belonged to two German citizens and one Polish citizen who were preparing to fly to Germany, according to SERFOR, Peru's National Forestry and Wildlife Service.
Authorities launched an investigation after receiving an anonymous tip. When officials searched the suitcases, they found between 15 and 22 socks packed inside each one, concealing spiders of different species and in varying numbers, Reuters reported.
Authorities believe that the spider smugglers planned to travel to Germany and sell the insect horde.
Cora Suarez, a wildlife forestry control technician with SERFOR, said the creatures can be valuable to collectors.
"These species are attractive because of the colors, because of the size and, more than anything, because they can be intended for collectors," Suarez said in Spanish.
Authorities discovered the spiders after an anonymous tip prompted an investigation.
Peru's environmental crimes police detained the trio of spider smugglers and now face prosecution by a specialized environmental prosecutor's office.
Wildlife Smuggling Is a Common Occurrence at Airports
Keith Jeffries, an Orlando-based vice president of K2 Security Screening Group, told Fox News Digital that wildlife smuggling attempts are fairly common.
"If there's a market for it, people will attempt to smuggle it," Jeffries said.
"We've seen this before many times," he added. "It happens more frequently than any of us would like."
Last month, Alberto Hernandez Castillo was arrested for attempting to smuggle live birds on a plane by hiding them in his underwear.
A US Customs and Border Protection agent noticed Castillo looked nervous while in line before boarding. The agent also noted that he had a bulge in his pants.
Castillo was then taken into a room for a pat-down, where authorities discovered that he had six plastic containers tucked into sewn pockets inside his underwear. Each container contained at least one live bird.
Among the hidden birds were yellow-faced grassquits and two blue grosbeaks. The birds were allegedly brought into the country without the required documentation.
