The job of a customs officer is full of surprises - sometimes they try to smuggle completely extraordinary things across the border. We will talk about them in today's top ten.
Of course, illegal smuggling, weapons or drugs are more often detected at the border, but there are, for example, eyeballs, dried insects or skulls. Introducing Top 10 most unusual finds of customs officers.
10. Dried caterpillars
Tens of thousands of dried insects were packed in plastic bags and sacking at Britain's Gatwick Airport. A 22-year-old passenger from the West African country of Burkina Faso tried to bring caterpillars to Britain.
9. Greek statues
Several statues, dating from the 6th century BC, were removed by Greek customs from the tourist's luggage. Presumably, the statues were stolen from an excavation site near Corinth.
8. Cakes stuffed with money
German customs seized a shipment of filled shortbread cakes in 2012. Inside each tube of cream was inserted a tightly folded note of considerable denomination.
7. Skeleton
At the Munich airport, two Italians were detained, in whose suitcase an X-ray scan revealed the presence of a human skeleton. The women explained that the skeleton belongs to a family member who died in Brazil but dreamed of being buried in Italy. For the unusual cargo, accompanying documents were presented.
6. Egyptian sarcophagus
A passenger carrying an Egyptian sarcophagus 3 thousand years old in his luggage was detained at the Miami airport. It turned out that Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiques, was returning a sarcophagus stolen a hundred years ago to his homeland.
5. Reptiles
In 2009, a 24-year-old passenger was arrested at the Sydney airport, who was trying to take out of the country four snakes and about a dozen live lizards by packing the animals in a regular suitcase.
4. Skulls
At Greek customs, the luggage of two American tourists was detained, in which six human skulls were found. Tourists claimed that the skulls were purchased from a souvenir shop, and buyers were convinced that they were not real.
3. Eyeballs
In 2007, at Stansted Airport, 10 eyeballs were found in the luggage of one of the passengers, which were floating in a jar of jam. Fortunately, the eyes were not real.
2. Bulbs with cocaine
An African prince was detained at London Heathrow Airport, in whose luggage they found hollowed-out onions stuffed with cocaine worth 163 thousand pounds. Such an unusual way of transporting in odorous bulbs should have confused the dogs involved in the search for drugs.
1. Rare animals
In the baggage of a UAE passenger flying from Bangkok to Dubai, Thai customs officials found four leopard cubs, a Malay biruang bear cub, a barnacle gibbon cub, a black-crested marmazette, two macaques and an Asiatic black bear.