Hundreds of insects and spiders including tarantulas, scorpions and giant cockroaches were found packed in plastic containers and tightly stowed in a suitcase headed for Europe. They were seized by authorities at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia. Airport police spotted the haul in luggage belonging to two German citizens who were leaving the country, and they alerted the Ministry of Environment, the agency said in a statement after the seizure on December 2. After the discovery, authorities confiscated more than 300 animals in 210 plastic containers that the travelers had stored between rolls of film. The tubs held 232 spiders both trapdoor spiders and tarantulas, a scorpion with seven young, 67 giant cockroaches, and nine spider eggs, according to the statement. The German citizens claimed that they were transporting the arthropods to Germany for research, but they did not have the proper permits and authorization for taking the animals out of the country, ministry officials said.