U.S. Customs and Border Protection
These Giant African snails were found inside luggage at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
Customs officials found six giant “highly invasive” snails with destructive potential in a traveler’s suitcase at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
The giant African snails, which were alive, are “a prohibitive organism” that have the potential to wreak havoc on the environment and cause diseases in humans. They have an affinity for devouring plants, produce, flowers, tree bark, and even the paint and stucco off houses.
The gastropods also carry parasites that can lead to meningitis in humans.
Nevertheless, the snails are a popular finger food in some countries, which appears to be the reason the passenger flew the snails to Detroit from Ghana, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Friday.
“Our CBP officers and agriculture specialists work diligently to target, detect, and intercept potential threats before they have a chance to do harm to U.S. interests,” CBP Port Director Robert Larkin said in a news release. “The discovery of this highly invasive pest truly benefits the health and well-being of the American people.”
It’s just the latest bizarre discovery made at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in the past year. In February, CBP announced it had found a young dolphin’s skull inside luggage. And a “dangerous” moth not seen in the U.S. since 1912 was discovered in a passenger’s bag at the airport in May 2022.
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