Fresh python fillets are the latest discovery to surprise our border officials.

A passenger arriving in to Auckland airport from China last week presented a package to officials, saying she thought it was tea, but she wasn't sure as it was packed by her mother.

When the quarantine inspector took a look, they instead discovered fresh fillets, which were labelled as python.

Detection Technology Manager Brett Hickman says the meat could have had diseases, and to make the biosecurity risk even worse, it was crawling with insects.