What Led Customs Officials To Find A Giant Bag Of Snails Is….

On Friday, authorities said that a stash of nearly 100 giant African land snails was hidden inside bags at Duesseldorf Airport that was illegally smuggled out of Nigeria and on their way to an “African goods” shop in western Germany as the trail of slime led German customs officials into the stockpile.

According to the Associated Press, when officials discovered a massive 8-inch snail on a baggage truck, they initially thought it was a toy until it began to move, authorities said. Following the trail of slime left behind by the snail, authorities discovered a bag with a hole where another snail was already peering out, which led them to five more bags with a total of 93 snails inside.

In total, officials found six bags containing 93 giant snails, 62 pounds of fish and smoked meat, and a suitcase full of rotting meat.

The AP added that an animal rescue service in Duesseldorf took the snails, while other goods were destroyed.

“Never in the history of the Duesseldorf customs office has a trail of slime led us to smuggled goods,” customs spokesman Michael Walk told the outlet.

After the species reappeared in the state this summer, the Florida Department of Agriculture dubbed it “one of the most damaging mollusk subtypes in the world” A single land snail can produce hundreds of eggs at once when it is 4 months old.

In Pasco County, Florida, authorities imposed a quarantine in July after discovering more than 1,000 huge land snails there. According to a department press release, authorities have been using specially trained canines to detect the species, but it can take years to totally eliminate the species.

Sources: Westernjournal, Apnews, Cbsnews

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