Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- A German tarantula dealer has been arrested on charges of illegally sending hundreds of the spiders to the United States through the U.S. mail , law enforcement officials said . Sven Koppler , 37 , who had just flown into in Los Angeles , was arrested Thursday after a nine-month investigation dubbed `` Operation Spiderman , '' authorities said . Koppler will remain jailed until a bond hearing December 8 , authorities said . A preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 17 and arraignment is December 20 . Deputy Federal Public Defender Neha Mehta told CNN `` it is very early in the case '' and that she could not comment . Koppler faces one count of illegally importing wildlife into the United States , the U.S. attorney 's office for the district said in a news release . He failed to receive permits and did not declare the spiders , attorney 's office spokesman Thom Mrozek told CNN . Special agents and inspectors with the U.S . Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S . Postal Service began to investigate Koppler 's shipments last March , according to the release . Of the more than 600 tarantulas under question , some were of the Brachypelma smithi species , commonly known as Mexican red-kneed tarantulas . This species is protected under an international treaty and can only be traded with special permits . Koppler failed to declare to the Fish and Wildlife Service that he had shipped the tarantulas and that is why they are considered smuggled , Mrozek said . If convicted , Koppler could be sentenced to up to 20 years in federal prison and fined $ 250,000 , prosecutors said . The Brachypelma genus of spiders is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species . Specimens can be legally traded only if permits are first obtained from the exporting country , the news release said . According to the criminal complaint , Koppler mailed more than 500 tarantulas . Many were wrapped in colored plastic straws . Agents made subsequent undercover buys from Koppler , the attorney 's office says . Koppler received about $ 300,000 as a result of tarantula sales around the world , according to the release . Michael Sheller , who owns Vogelspinnen , a tarantula clearinghouse in Sprendlingen , near Frankfurt , Germany , said Koppler is a well-known and highly respected man in the tarantula business . `` He is a very reputable dealer , '' said Sheller . `` I am shocked , I know him very well . '' Sheller , who exports hundreds of tarantulas each year , said it is important to follow the shipment rules . He said his biggest customers are in the United States . `` Tarantulas are fascinating '' Sheller said . `` I make my living off of them . '' CNN 's Helena de Moura contributed to this report .
NEW : The case has a court hearing next week . A man is arrested for smuggling tarantulas into the United States . The German citizen is accused of improperly sending in packages of tarantulas . The new genus is recognized by an international committee .