July 21, 2021
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — More than a dozen live African snails were found in a traveler’s luggage at Bush Airport, officials said.
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 15 snails were found in plastic bags inside a woman’s luggage earlier this month.
Customs officials said she was traveling from Nigeria and initially only declared dried beef, but later said she had live snails. Officials found three plastic bags containing the live snails with fresh leaves and about a quarter of a pound of beef.
The snails were turned over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who identified the snails as giant land snails, also known as banana rasp snails.