--- ---  # Man Tries to Convince People That Tortoises Are Delicious Cakes for Smuggling Purposes. It Did Not Go Over Well.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Mar 18, 2019 4:06 PM UTC  Hauptzollamt Potsdam  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Mar 18, 2019 4:06 PM UTC [Pastries](http://www.extracrispy.com/food/2368/st-josephs-day-pastries-let-you-get-loose-during-lent) come in all shapes and sizes. But perhaps presuming that a set of live [tortoises](http://time.com/3754279/mating-tortoises-national-geographic/) would pass inspection as confections of the cake variety was pushing expectations a bit too far. That’s certainly the case for one man, who [was apprehended](https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/tortoise-smuggling-cakes-berlin-schonefeld-airport-pastry-box-a8828051.html) earlier in March in Berlin’s Schönefeld airport after customs officials discovered he was carrying three tortoises placed in a cake box with clear plastic windows, their distinctive shells obvious to any onlooker. According to translations of the [press release](https://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/121237/4217423) shared by the airport, the passenger — a 69-year-old German national traveling back from Cairo Egypt — attempted to convince airport security officials the tortoises were highly realistic-looking “chocolate” tortoises after they stopped him moving through the “nothing to declare” line. His contention turned out to be quite a lie: “When opening the packaging, the customs officers found instead of sweets, however, three living specimens of Moroccan tortoise,” the release notes. Moroccan tortoises are an [endangered species](http://time.com/5347260/endangered-species-act-reform/), and were promptly confiscated by airport security and placed “in the care of a border veterinarian,” according to the airport. Animal trafficking is a serious crime, and if convicted, the passenger could be looking at a fine of as much as €50,000 — over $55,000 — or a five-year prison sentence. Man Tries to Disguise Tortoises as Cakes in Airport ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5553622/tortoise-cakes-airport/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5553622/tortoise-cakes-airport/"},"headline":"Man Tries to Convince People That Tortoises Are Delicious Cakes for Smuggling Purposes. It Did Not Go Over Well.","datePublished":"2019-03-18T16:06:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:58:10.333Z","description":"He could face a serious fine or imprisonment","url":"https://time.com/5553622/tortoise-cakes-airport/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Bizarre"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45a09bd7560d223d/698946d5b21a9c8b4a500485/tortoise-cakes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45a09bd7560d223d/698946d5b21a9c8b4a500485/tortoise-cakes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"tortoise-cakes","caption":"","creditText":"Hauptzollamt Potsdam","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5553622/tortoise-cakes-airport/","name":"Man Tries to Convince People That Tortoises Are Delicious Cakes for Smuggling Purposes. It Did Not Go Over Well."}}]}] ```