animal welfare
Slime trail leads customs to more than 90 giant snails
Marcel Spreyer, customs officer at Düsseldorf Airport, shows the find. photo
© Customs Dusseldorf / dpa
The piece of luggage came to Düsseldorf from Nigeria and was not picked up at the airport. what was inside.
The trail of slime from a 20 centimeter giant snail led customs at Düsseldorf Airport to another 92 conspecifics. The customs officers initially thought the enormously large snail was a toy – until it moved. “Their trail led to a hole in a piece of luggage from Nigeria, from which the head of a second giant snail was already sticking out,” said a customs spokesman in Düsseldorf on Friday.
The luggage had not been picked up. It is addressed to an Afro shop in the Ruhr area. The living giant snails are not species-protected and were probably brought to Germany as a delicacy. During transport, however, veterinary regulations and animal welfare were violated.