A plane passenger flying from Cameroon was seized by customs officers in Germany when they found a grim stash of smoked snake and lizard meat in his luggage.
The 34-year-old traveller, not named by local media, was stopped at Stuttgart airport on 17th October after a trip to visit his family in West Africa.
Shocked customs officers found four kilos (8.8 lbs) of bushmeat from endangered wildlife killed for food.
The so-called ‘delicacy’ included smoked meat from an Armadillo girdled lizard, a Central African rock python, and a Savannah monitor lizard.
Police said most of the species are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Main Customs Office Stuttgart spokesperson Thomas Seemann said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “Especially over the summer months, customs often experience violations of the import bans on food of animal origin.
“We often see families returning from Africa, Turkey, or Kosovo violating them.
“However, we have never had to take smoked lizard meat out of someone’s luggage in Stuttgart.”
Seemann emphasised that the traveller had violated import regulations aimed at preventing the introduction of animal diseases.
He now faces a hefty fine from the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation for importing meat from animal species threatened with extinction.
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Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
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