A trail of slime at an airport has led customs officials to a bag filled with 93 giant African land snails.
No, the snails themselves were not committing snail crimes, rather they were being imported into Western Germany from Nigeria, as reported by AP.
28kg of fish and smoked meat were also part of the package, along with a suitcase filled with rotting meat. It was all on route to be sold at an African goods store in western Germany.
“Never in the history of the Duesseldorf customs office has a trail of slime led us to smuggled goods,” said spokesman Michael Walk on the snail crimes.
How did customs come across the snails? At large, a trail of slime left behind by one escaping 20cm giant snail led the airport customs team to the bag. Another snail, an accomplice, was “peeping out of” a hole in the bag.
African land snails are not known to commit crimes, but they are really big. They can grow up to 20cm in length and 10cm in diameter.
Mind you, African land snails have raised meningitis concerns previously this year, prompting a quarantine in Florida after one appeared.
The imported meats were destroyed and the snails were handed to an animal rescue service. Hey, do the slime, do the time.
A word of advice for snail fans out there: please don’t try and import or export them unless you’re doing it all safely and legally.